Seattle's Relationship to Water

Seattle's Entanglement With Water

Seattle is a city defined by water and its cyclical patterns and its power. 90% of its electricity is drawn from water. The rhythms of salmon migration are a magical part of every summer. The tides of the Salish Sea and the rising and falling of lake levels and river levels mark time through days, months, and years.

Seattle is surrounded by, often inundated with, and powered by water, but it has never lived well with water. In the early 20th century

Water Flow Into Light

88% of Seattle's electric power comes from the dams of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. In the early 20th century, dams were built throughout the United States to generate electricity to power industrial growth. Seattle City Light,, the city's sole electric utility was founded in 1905,

Opening Times

Monday to Sunday: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Last entry at 5:30 PM 

Closed on Saturdays

Unlimited tickets available for purchase at the door.

Talk about the history of the utility

Talk about the rise of industrial jobs in Seattle (Boeing, shipbuilding, etc) and later cloud computing due to cheap electricity

The cost of the dams - Skagit tribes wanting their damned salmon back

The challenges with climate change.