| Brownlee Dam | |
|---|---|
) | |
| Official name | Brownlee Dam |
| Location | Hells Canyon, Baker Co., Oregon / Washington Co., Idaho |
| Coordinates | 44°50′10″N 116°54′00″W / 44.836°N 116.9°W |
| Construction began | 1955 [1][2] |
| Opening date | May 9, 1958 [3][4] 63 years ago |
| Operator(s) | Idaho Power Company |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | Snake River |
| Height | 420 feet (128 m) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Brownlee Reservoir |
| Total capacity | 1,426,700 acre feet (1.7598 km3) |
| Catchment area | 72,590 square miles (188,000 km2) |
| Surface area | 15,000 acres (61 km2) |
| Power Station | |
| Installed capacity | 585.4 MW |
| Annual generation | 2,406.8 GWh |
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Dam
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Brownlee Dam is a hydroelectric earth fill embankment dam in the western United States, on the Snake River on the Idaho-Oregon border, In Hells Canyon at river mile 285, it impounds the Snake River in the 58-mile (93 km)-long Brownlee Reservoir.
It is part of the Hells Canyon Project that also includes Hells Canyon Dam and Oxbow Dam, built and operated by Idaho Power Company. The first and upper-most of the three dams, its contractor was Morrison-Knudsen of Boise.[1][2][5] It started filling on May 9, 1958,[3] 63 years ago, flooding the community of Robinette.
The dam's powerhouse contains five generating units with a total nameplate capacity of 585.4 megawatts.
Lacking passage for migrating salmon, the three Hells Canyon Project dams blocked access by anadromous salmonids to a stretch of the Snake River drainage basin from Hells Canyon Dam up to Shoshone Falls, which naturally prevents any upstream fish passage to the upper Snake River basin.[6]
Heliport
There is a 100-by-60-foot (30 by 18 m) private heliport, Brownlee Heliport, (FAA LID: OR75) located near the dam.
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See also
- Brownlee, Oregon, the dam's namesake, was located about 2 miles upstream from the dam
- List of dams in the Columbia River watershed
References
- ^ a b "Brownlee dam one-third done". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. December 2, 1956. p. 26.
- ^ a b "Brownlee dam base readied". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. December 30, 1956. p. 12.
- ^ a b "Idaho Power shuts gates of big dam". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. May 10, 1958. p. 2.
- ^ "New dam goes into operation on Snake River". Florence Times. Alabama. Associated Press. May 10, 1958. p. 7.
- ^ "Brownlee dam excavation job more than half done". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. April 21, 1957. p. 20.
- ^ "Fence of voltage herds fish near Brownlee Dam". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. November 29, 1957. p. 15.
External links
Media related to Brownlee Dam at Wikimedia Commons- Brownlee Dam, Columbia Basin Research
- Brownlee Dam, Northwest Power and Conservation Council
- Brownlee Dam, Idaho Power
- Resources for this airport:
- FAA airport information for OR75
- AirNav airport information for OR75
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for OR75
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