As I write this, the Columbia River is flowing through Grand Coulee Dam at a rate of 195,400 cubic feet per second. And, spectacularly, about 25,000 cubic feet you can see spilling some 300 feet down the face of the dam.
At Niagara Falls you would see about 20,000 cubic feet of water falling about 70 feet.
The spill should keep going all week, adding incentive to anyone thinking about visiting the dam for the annual July 4th celebration.
A tour group leaves the big bus to peer over the edge of the dam as the Columbia roars over the top.
If you’d like to check the current amount of water flowing in the river, over the dam or the level of Lake Roosevelt compared to sea level, you can do that here. (But the data fields might not line up well on a small screen of a cell phone.
Lake Roosevelt, behind the dam, is already basically full, well ahead of last year as the chart below shows.
Cell phones and digital cameras try to capture the fireworks, as the moon pops up in the background above Grand Coulee Dam during the 2011 fireworks off the top of the dam.
Celebration planned for 4th of July
Everyone likes a good, old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration.
You can enjoy one this week, the “Festival of America” a three-day affair, right here in the Grand Coulee Dam area.
The celebration kicks off on Thursday, July 4, with music in the park below the Visitor Center.
There’s lots to do. A number of craft booths will offer goods and several food booths will fix a summer-time lunch or dinner for you.
The music will take you right up to the Laser Light Show time. And to cap it all off, about 10:30 p.m., there will be the giant fireworks display right off the top of Grand Coulee Dam on July 4.
Award winning Elvis impersonator Steve Sogura headlines this year’s show, joined by the Cruizers with classic rock, Kathy Boyd & Phoenix Rising with bluegrass and more.
Music in the park continues Friday and Saturday, as do the craft and food booths, with tours of the dam and Laser Light Show adding to the celebration.
The chamber of commerce has added a number of family-friendly games, good for all ages, at this year’s celebration.
Plus, this year the community will see the debut of the sport of roller derby in this area. Teams from around the state will come for a demonstration skrimmage July 5 at North Dam Park in Grand Coulee.
The Festival of America is sponsored by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Coulee Dam Casino, with music arranged for by the town of Coulee Dam.
All the particulars are in a special “Festival of America” celebration section below.
A bullrider holds on during the 2012 Cleatis Lacy Bullarama in Grand Coulee.
Tucked against the great Grand Coulee wall, the Ridge Riders Saddle Club Rodeo grounds probably offers the most picturesque setting for any rodeo arena anywhere.
Couple that with a beer garden and you’ve got yourself a nice setting for a great time.
Ridge Rider activity heats up late this month with two special events at the Rodeo Grounds.
Friday night, June 28, the Ridge Riders present the 2nd Annual Cleatis Lacy Memorial Bull Riding.
And on Saturday night, June 29, the Ridge Riders present the lone Ranch Rodeo of the year.
The Lacy Bull Riding Memorial event is named after Grand Coulee’s late Cleatis Lacy, a rodeo cowboy and rodeo hand whose career spanned several decades.
The bull riding begins at the Rodeo Grounds at 7 p.m. with concession stands and the beer garden opening at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10.
Entry fee for bull riding is $75, with an added purse of $1,500. You can register through Sorrel Katich, 631-4655 or 634-4316. Katich will supply the stock for the special event.
Saturday night’s ranch rodeo will be an entirely different kind of contest. If you’ve never been to one, know that they’re an interesting and laid-back alternative to mainstream rodeo, with contestants in teams that practice real, modern ranch skills, such as getting that animal to go into that trailer!
The Ranch Rodeo is being organized by Bubba Egbert and teams can register by contacting him at 633-6849 or 631-4200.
Entry fee for the Ranch Bronc Riding is $50, with $1,500 added.
The team part of the Ranch Rodeo has an entry fee of $200 per team.
Teams are made up of three men and one woman and they will compete in such events as team branding, trailer loading and pasture gathering.
Teams can be made up of ranch hands, four individuals who would just like to compete, or any other combination.
Tickets are $8 and action begins at 6 p.m. The concession stands and beer garden open at 5 p.m.
Details and a map are available to help you plan your day, inside this week’s Star newspaper.
A host of prizes will be awarded to some lucky kids.
The grand prize, being awarded by the chamber, is an iPod Touch. Other prizes include a remote controlled Spy Tank, an inflatable boat set, three AquaZookas, four tickets to Ephrata Raceway Park, gift certificates, free ice cream cones, a digital video camera, t-shirts, a sweatshirt and a gift card. Details on the firms providing the prizes can be found inside today’s newspaper.
Here’s all you have to do!
Visit the sites outlined in today’s Star, have someone sign off on your visit, and deposit your entry.
Prizes will be awarded at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Faith Community Church in Electric City and kids can enjoy a feature-length movie while there.
Good hunting and good luck! See page 8 in The Star.
You can also read on, but the map may be easier to follow on paper, which also offers the entry form.
Koulee Kids Fest Activity list
Geode Break at Funzee’s (bring your own sock)
Pedal Boats at Coulee Playland
Mini Golf at Sunbanks Lake Resort
Geo cache at the Visitor Arrival Center
BB- North Dam Park – Lions Club
Coulee Cruizers Car Show North Dam Park,
kids vote for their favorite car
Sidewalk Chalk Art – in Electric City
(by the post office, city hall in front of Tropical Pig & ECT)
Fire truck at North Dam Park
Disk Golf demonstration at the new
Disc Golf course in North Dam Park
Delight Ice Cream truck, free ice cream
for all kids participating in the event.
Sponsored by Coulee Dam Federal Credit Union
Stars indicate place where activities are happening.
If you’re lucky, usually in the spring, you might get to see the rare and amazing site of water falling down Grand Coulee Dam’s huge spillway about 300 feet to the river below.
Some years this doesn’t happen at all, which is the way most who “operate” the Columbia River prefer it.
Today, the rest of us get our wish. They’ve been “spilling” for the last two days, the result of too much runoff from the snow-packed mountains upstream, which is carefully and continuously measured to avoid flooding downstream.
The Bureau appears to be holding the level of Lake Roosevelt behind the dam at about 1267. Full is 1290 (feet above sea level, that is).
In the photo, less than 10 percent of the River’s flow is coming over the top. The rest of the 173,000 cubic feet per second is flowing through the dam, some of it making electricity.
You can check for yourself how much is currently spilling or flowing through and what the levels of the water are with is link.
Last Thursday, the official forecast was that the lake would come up over the next week to the mid 1270s. Here’s a graph of this years lake levels compared to last year’s.
