SOS: Time For The Dam Tour! Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

KidVegas19: Thank you Rock Rabbit for the reminder to do something about this cache. The super successful Geocoin Challenge associated is long closed. After struggling with my emotions to keep this one active or not (which explains the delay in response) I have decided to let it go and let someone else come up with a creative hide for the space (or myself if no one else is up to it...)

Bottom line - thanks Volunteer Reviewers for you work!

Personal thanks from me to Rock Rabbit for your dedication, service, and advice.

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Hidden : 6/28/2017
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

This cache was part of the 2017 Spokane Geocache Tour. If you are interested current tours please visit SpokaneGeoTour.com for more information.

This is no Vegas Vacation - this is the real dam deal!

The complex you will see across the river from ground zero is the final result of a plan originally hatched in 1884. The water pumped from the river downtown for the city at the time seemed a little murky for the denizens of the day so they forged upstream to this location hoping for a cleaner source.

Completed in 1894 and made from wood, that dam pumped 10 million gallons of river water a day into the city. This made Spokane awesome and word got out and everybody moved here. Well, except for that one guy's mother in law. Bottom line was, over time, 10 million a day eventually couldn't cut the mustard.

In 1905 the facility was expanded. Soon it was pumping an amazing 365 million gallons of river water to the denizens. This made Spokane even more awesome so even more people moved here. Well, except for that same guy's mother in law.

The conversion from wood to concrete was completed in 1933. Facts are sketchy for this report but it may have been this activity that led to the discovery of the water source we drink from today - the Spokane Aquifer. The aquifer is an underground freshwater lake so big it reaches from Idaho to beyond Airway Heights. This source of drinking water serves well over 200,000 people and has made Spokane the most awesome so everyone is moving here (including that same guy's mother in law finally, although she is a little frail by now) but the aquifer can handle it. No more river water - Yay us!

So what is this dam thing doing now? Making dam electricity of course! According to the city of Spokane's website "The Dam generates more than 70 million kilowatts of electricity, annually. Power generated at the dam is used to pump water to the City's water customers. The Water Department delivers up to 180 million gallons of clean, safe drinking water per day to more than 210,000 people in our community."

Fun fact: This type of dam operates via the "run of the river" mode which means there is no reservoir to speak of. It is slave to the seasonal water flow. We think this should be renamed to "a river runs through it" mode.

The 2017 Spokane Geocache Tour brings you Sustainability of Spokane. This Geocache Tour will send geocachers on a trip through the Spokane region, finding caches in areas where Spokane residents utilize natural resources and give back to the environment. You will visit locations featuring water conservation, farming, waste treatment, forestry, and of course dam, solar and wind energy.

  • All caches begin with the series name SOS: followed by a location specific name so they are easy to search. We also made a SOS Bookmark of the caches.
  • Be sure to visit SpokaneGeoTour.com for more infomation on current tours and a map view of all caches in this series.

The Sustainability of Spokane Geocache Tour is sponsored by Cache Advance, and by donation from local cachers. We hope you enjoy the tour!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Guvf uvqr vf ebpxva' vg'f pnzb. Tbbq yhpx!

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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