EUGENE WATER  &  ELECTRIC  BOARD

The Smith Creek Hydroelectric Project was constructed in 1989 by Smith Falls Hydro Power, an independent power producer formed to build the project. EWEB initially purchased the output under a 40-year contract, but in 2001 EWEB bought the project from the developer.

The project is located on Smith Creek, a tributary to the Kootenai River, approximately five miles from the Canadian board in Northern Idaho. The nearest town is Bonner's Ferry.

The project is sometimes referred to as "Smith Falls," due to natural 60-foot high falls on Smith Creek, located downstream of the power plant tailrace. The falls serves as a natural barrier to White Sturgeon, an endangered species in the Kootenai River.

The project consists of the following:

• 75-foot long, 8-foot high diversion dam, fish ladder and screened intake to the penstock housed inside a steel building
• 5.3-mile, 6-foot diameter steel penstock that carries water from the diversion dam to the power plant
• Power plant that contains two horizontal shaft Pelton turbines, each driving a synchronous generator rated at 18 megawatts and a third horizontal shaft Pelton turbine, driving a synchronous generator rated at 2.1 megawatts
• A substation
• 30-mile, 115-kilovolt transmission line that terminates at the Bonneville Power Administration's Bonner's Ferry Substation.

The power generated at Smith Creek is wheeled through BPA transmission lines to EWEB.