Munson Engineers

Douglas County's decision to form a Public Utility District and construct the Wells Dam project led to the formation of Munson Engineers. The District Engineer for the the Washington State Highway Department, Ike Munson, partnered with local engineer and construction expert, Chuck Nash, to form Munson-Nash and Associates. Bechtel Corporation, gener... al contractor for the construction of Wells Dam, then subcontracted with Munson-Nash for significant portions of the work required to complete the project, the only project for which Munson was engaged during the following four years. We established the boundaries of the Wells Reservoir, re-established the lines of individual property holdings within the surveyed reservoir boundaries and prepared "Exhibit K" drawings of the entire reservoir for the Federal Power Commission. We coordinated the acquisition of land that was to be flooded by the rising waters behind the new dam. We designed and supervised construction of over 150 separate irrigation systems to replace those providing water for orchards that were partially flooded. We planned and designed the relocation of the towns of Pateros and Brewster to remove them from areas of the land to be flooded. This included raising Pateros between six and twelve feet by means of a large scale fill operation. New streets, water systems and sewer systems were constructed for both towns. Native American burial sites were relocated in close cooperation with the tribes. The project was completed on time and under budget.Read More