When
the water came down from the mountains, a part of the dam washed
away.In 1889, a man named Woodin build a small dam
to get water for the people in the town of Chelan to survive.
The dam was build on the Chelan River about 3 minutes from Lake
Chelan. The dam was made of mud. It only lasted 6 months. When
the water came down from the mountains, a part of the dam washed
away.
A second dam was build in 1893 at the end of Emerson Street. The second dam that they build was made of cut down trees. They cut trees from Stehekin and they floated down the lake by pulling them with a boat. The second dam stayed up when the water came from the mountains in the springtime. The second dam raised the lake level 8 feet higher. The land cost more money because they had more water.
This second dam lasted about a year. When the
snow melted all at one time and 
the rain started to fall, the south side of the dam
was washed away. The water was 11 feet taller than the dam. The
river cut some of the land. It was a huge flood in 1984.
The third dam was build of concrete cement in 1925. The lake raised 21 feet taller and the dam stayed there, it didn't fall down.