the federal government ordered PacifiCorp to alter the dam and add fish ladders to meet environmental codes. PacifiCorp deemed the modifications too expensive, and asked to decommission the dam, instead. The project operated under annual license extensions until the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved decommissioning. The dam was breached at noon (Pacific Time) on October 26, 2011. At the time, it was the largest U.S. dam to be removed. The Elwha Ecosystem Restoration Project on the Olympic Peninsula has since removed the larger Elwha and Glines Canyon Dams. Plant operations and specifications River flow Condit Dam was required to discharge at least 15 ft³/s (0.4 m³/s) to keep the river channel viable. Surplus water was used by the turbines for electrical power generation and returned to the river about a mile downstream. Additional flow beyond what the turbines could use was discharged through five tainter gates and two sluice gates. The dam crest had a pneumatically actuated hinged crestgate, which was designed to fail catastrophically as a safety relief when flow exceeds 18000 ft³/s (510 m³/s). The river averages 1125 ft³/s (32 m³/s), with flows up to 3500 ft³/s (99 m³/s) being fairly common. Power production The two turbines could use a maximum of 1,400 ft³/s (40 m³/s) and operate efficiently with as little as 1,100 ft³/s (31 m³/s). In this flow range, the plant operated as a run-of-river project. Inflow equaled outflow, and both turbines operated continuously to supply base load electricity. When river flow was not quite enough for two turbines, operation was cycled between running one and both turbines, based on a daily reservoir draw-down and refill cycle. The cycling was timed to meet peak electrical demands; both turbines operated during hours of high electrical demand and the reservoir was drawn down. A single turbine operated during low electrical demand hours while the reservoir refilled. A similar cycle was used when inflow was less than enough for a single turbine. A weekly cycle was superimposed on the daily cycle that tended to draw down the reservoir during the week and allowed it refill during the weekend. In these cases, known as load factoring, the plant operated as a peaking plant. This mode of operation was greatly reduced through the 1980s and 1990s to appease lakefront cabin owners. Licensing According to Federal Power Act of 1920, hydropower producers are periodically required to apply for license renewal from