DVDs on PUD and its projects available to public

GRANT COUNTY — On the screen are strands of wheat and fields of onions, and Kathy Kiefer can't help but show some enthusiasm.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, than Kiefer's video shots are encyclopedias of what goes on at the Grant County Public Utility District.

"These videos are a way of showing our customers what we do," Kiefer said, "so they can feel closer to us."

Kiefer and the PUD communications staff have put out a variety of DVD movies about the utility over the last few years, and her direction of the recent video on relicensing efforts for the PUD's two dams recently won a national award.

A visual representation is really the best way to convey information to people for Kiefer; whether that video is an aerial shot of a dam, or a sprinkler slowly watering the length of a field.

"When people see things happening," Kiefer said, "It has more of an impact."

The PUD's next video on salmon in the Priest Rapids Project will be released in the next few weeks, and Kiefer said will likely be distributed to schools throughout the state. Last year's release entitled, "Relicensing the Priest Rapids Project: Our Story," recently won the Hydro Achievement Award for public education by the National Hydropower Association.

The relicensing project DVD, Kiefer said, is a way to show viewers the PUD's need to get a license and what it has taken and will take to get that license.

"We wanted people to know what we're doing, and why we're able to do it," Kiefer said.

PUD communications supervisor Sarah Morford said that a lot can be said about different projects that are going on at the dam, but the video allows a chance for people to see the relationship with salmon and the dams firsthand.

"Not everyone can make it to the dams to see what's going on," she said.

For these movies, Kiefer said the PUD was able to get photos from places like the Grant County Historical Society and Washington State University photography collections, in an effort to show the history of Grant County. The recent relicensing video spans just 24 minutes and covers not only the county and PUD's history, but also the utility's quest for a new dam license.

The PUD has been producing films specifically for employees for several years, and Kiefer said those videos were just a nice way to display various projects of what the PUD has been working on to district employees throughout the county. One of the PUD's first videos became available for the public to see in 2001, and featured a story on the construction of the Wanapum and Priest Rapids Dams.

Kiefer said PUD Communications staff work to put out about one video presentation each year. Copies of those movies are available free at local PUD offices throughout the county.

"We really take a look at how to get a message out," Morford said, "and sometimes video is the most effective way."