Friday, May 15 marks the start of the summer schedule for recreational boaters using navigation locks to travel past U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers, according to Corps navigation planners.
The lockage schedule is the same for eight Corps dams in Walla Walla and Portland districts, making recreational vessel lockage schedules identical for the entire Columbia-Snake river system.
In Walla Walla District, navigation lock facilities are available at McNary Dam, near Umatilla; Ice Harbor Dam, near Burbank, Wash.; Lower Monumental Dam, near Kahlotus, Wash.; Little Goose Dam, near Starbuck, Wash.; and Lower Granite Dam, near Pomeroy, Wash.
Portland District dams with locks include John Day Dam, near Rufus; The Dalles Dam, near The Dalles; and Bonneville Dam, near Cascade Locks.
All vessel owners and operators lock through at their own risk, and must comply with the Corps’ safe-lockage policy. Walla Walla District’s recreational vessel lockage schedule, the Corps safety policy and the brochure, “How To Lock Through,” are on the the Corps of Engineers website.
The Corps’ Walla Walla and Portland districts maintain about 350 miles of the federal inland navigation channel from Portland to Lewiston, Idaho. The Columbia-Snake inland navigation system is part of a larger waterborne commerce system that is vital to the economic health of the Pacific Northwest. This import\export gateway allows river transport 465 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean to Lewiston, Idaho.
