Seattle (Wash.). Dept. of Lighting.

Construction of Ruby Dam, steps one and two, began in 1937 after the Dept. of Lighting received three million dollars from the federal Public Works Administration to begin clearing timber from Ruby Basin. The dam was the third built by the Dept. as part of the Skagit River hydroelectric power project. It was renamed Ross Dam in 1939 in memory of James D. Ross, the long-time superintendent of the Dept. who died in March of that year. Ross Dam was initially constructed for storage rather than power generation. The first step of Ross Dam's construction was completed in 1940. Step two in the construction of Ross Dam began in 1943. Step three was approved by the Federal Power Commission (FPC) in 1947, and at completion in 1949, the dam stood at 540 feet. In 1950, the FPC authorized construction of Ross Powerhouse and three generating units. During 1952 to 1956, Ross Powerhouse was constructed and four generators went on-line, doubling the electrical output generated by the Dept. of Lighting. The fourth generating unit was installed at Ross Powerhouse in 1956. The U.S. Congress created Ross Lake National Recreation Area and the North Cascades National Park in 1968. In 1970, Seattle applied to the FPC for construction of a fourth step of Ross Dam, which would raise the reservoir elevation to 1,725 feet. The final water level of Ross Reservoir was not settled until 1984, after lengthy negotiations with the International Joint Commission comprised of representatives from the state of Washington, the city of Seattle, and British Columbia, Canada. A fourth step was authorized in 1977, but authorization was revoked in 1984 by an eighty-year agreement between Seattle and British Columbia stipulating that the fourth step would not be constructed, that British Columbia would supply power to Seattle in lieu of construction, and that Seattle would pay British Columbia an amount relative to construction costs. This agreement also created the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission, a bi-national agency who mission is to foster education about the upper Skagit River watershed.