The Walla Walla District is the second largest hydropower producer in the Corps of Engineers, providing a total generating capacity of 4,413 megawatts to the Federal Columbia River Power System. McNary Lock and Dam can produce 980 megawatts of electricity from its 14-hydropower turbines. The four lower Snake River projects have a combined total generating capacity of 3,033 megawatts from 24 turbines. Dworshak Dam, near Orofino, Idaho, has three hydroelectric turbine units, which can generate 400 megawatts of power for the region. The District operates and maintains the federal navigation channel from McNary Dam on the Columbia River, through the four lower Snake River projects, providing a navigable waterway 400 miles inland to Lewiston, Idaho.
Agricultural products are the most important commodities shipped downstream.
Petroleum products are the most important upstream cargo. Dworshak Dam is a flood control and storage reservoir on the North Fork of the Clearwater River. Wash. Protecting lives and property from flooding is a key mission for the District. Levees on the Snake and Gros Ventre Rivers in Jackson Hole, Wyo., protect developments in the river valleys. Recent activities include the floods of 1996 and most recently, advance measures were completed in Atlanta, Idaho, after the forest fires raged through the area in the summer of 2000.