Grand Coulee Dam plant to be renamed
An aerial view of the Grand Coulee Dam. The dam's power and water pumping plant will be renamed the John W. Keys, III Pump-Generating Plant. Keys is the former head of the agency, who died last year in a plane crash. Photo courtesy of U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
GRAND COULEE — The last time Dan DuBray saw John W. Keys, III, he was wearing a jacket adorned with U.S. Bureau of Reclamation insignia.
He had arrived at Glen Canyon Dam, Ariz., where a high flow test was being conducted.
Keys, then the former head of the federal agency, shot aerial photos of water rushing down the Colorado River from an airplane, recalled DuBray, an agency spokesperson.
Keys died on May 30, 2008, in Utah’s Canyonlands National Park while flying a small plane. He was 66.
Keys will be remembered when Grand Coulee Dam’s 312-megawatt power and water pumping plant is renamed the John W. Keys, III Pump-Generating Plant, the bureau announced.There may be a special ceremony closer to spring once the weather improves, DuBray said.
DuBray said Keys was “very dedicated” to the bureau and also loved flying.
The agency lost a “principle cheerleader,” DuBray noted.
Before it’s renaming, the plant had a more generic name, the Grand Coulee Pumping Generating Plant, DuBray said.
Renaming a facility is an infrequent honor, he said.
Keys came out of retirement to serve as the bureau’s commissioner, which is the considered the agency’s head, DuBray said.
His last position before retirement was regional director of the bureau’s Pacific Northwest Region in Boise, Idaho.
Former Interior Secretary Gale Norton asked Keys to serve as commissioner.
President George W. Bush appointed Keys as commissioner and the appointment was confirmed by the Senate, according to the bureau.
Keys served as commissioner from 2001 until 2006.
“John Keys was a dedicated and honorable interior department employee who, in his 34 years of public service, left the west and the nation an enduring legacy,” Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne stated. “This is one small way that we can honor the legacy and important life-long work of Commissioner John Keys.”
Acting Commissioner Bill McDonald also provided comments about Keys.
“John was the most enthusiastic voice for the vital mission of our agency — producing water and power for the West,” McDonald noted. “The renaming of this plant in his honor is a perfect tribute to that dual mission that he was so proud to support.”
There are 12 pumps elevating water up a hill at Grand Coulee Dam’s pump-generating plant.
The Columbia Basin Irrigation Project receives the water, which flows to 670,000 acres in Central Washington for farms, recreation, fish and wildlife, power production and flood control, according to the bureau.