Douglas PUD operates the Wells Project under a license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission which expires in the year 2012. The hydrocombine structure is 1,165 feet in length and the dam is 4,460 feet long overall. Ten generating units produce 840 megawatts of power and eleven gated spillway openings can pass a flood of over 8,800,000 gallons of water per second. In 1990, Douglas PUD completed installation of modern high efficiency replacement turbine runners on all ten units. Utilities receiving power from Wells Dam along with Douglas PUD include Puget Sound Energy, Portland General Electric Company, PacifiCorp, Avista Corporation and the Okanogan County Public Utility District.
Fish ladders aid the upstream passage of migratory fish.
The Wells Project was built with fish ladders like you see here on both ends of the Dam. Adult salmon and steelhead migrating upstream locate the ladders as they travel along the shoreline. One of the ladders is equipped with a trapping mechanism to aid biologists in their study and enhanced propogation of the fish. During the 1980s, Douglas County PUD developed a system to guide young salmon and steelhead away from moving turbines and safely through Wells Dam. The unique hydrocombine design of the Wells Dam allowed for a juvenile bypass system utilizing the existing spillway at the project.