Hells Canyon Dam

Hells Canyon Dam is a concrete gravity dam in the western United States, on the Snake River in Hells Canyon along the Idaho-Oregon border. At river mile 247, the dam impounds Hells Canyon Reservoir; its spillway elevation is 1,680 feet (512 m) above sea level.

Hells Canyon Dam
Aerial view of the dam
LocationHells Canyon, Adams County, Idaho /
Wallowa County, Oregon
United States
Coordinates45°14′41″N 116°41′54″W
Opening date1967 (1967)
Operator(s)Idaho Power Company
Dam and spillways
ImpoundsSnake River
Height330 ft (100 m)
Reservoir
CreatesHells Canyon Reservoir
Total capacity188,000 acre⋅ft (232,000,000 m3)
Catchment area73,300 sq mi (189,800 km2)
Surface area3.9 sq mi (10 km2)
Power Station
Installed capacity391 MW
Annual generation2,051.3 GWh
Columbia River Basin dams

It is the third and final hydroelectric dam of the Hells Canyon Project, which includes Brownlee Dam (1959) and Oxbow Dam (1961), all built and operated by Idaho Power Company. The Hells Canyon Complex on the Snake River is the largest privately owned hydroelectric power complex in the nation, according to the US Energy Information Administration.[1] The contractor for the Hells Canyon Dam was Morrison-Knudsen of Boise.

The Hells Canyon Dam powerhouse contains three generating units, with a total nameplate capacity of 391 megawatts (MW).[2] Power generation began with two units in 1967, the third came on line the following year.

Lacking passage for migrating salmon, the three dams of the Hells Canyon Project 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.

High dam proposal

As built, Hells Canyon Dam is significantly lower than it was originally proposed in the 1940s, with three dams (Hells Canyon, Brownlee Dam and Oxbow Dam) taking the place of a single 710-foot (220 m) high dam.[3] As proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Hells Canyon High Dam would have been a straight-profile concrete gravity dam with two gate-controlled tunnel spillways, one in each abutment. The proposed reservoir was planned to have a capacity of 4,050,000 acre feet (5.00 km3) with an area of 23,500 acres (36.7 sq mi; 95 km2). The reservoir was to extend 89 miles (143 km) upstream. The power plant was to be capable of generating 850 MW using ten units. The project included provisions for fish hatcheries, with the intention of maintaining salmon runs. Project cost was estimated at $342,076,000.[4] The high dam project was not pursued.

Proposed Hells Canyon High Dam

See also

References
  1. "State Energy Profiles: Idaho". U.S. Department of Energy. December 23, 2010. Archived from the original on November 17, 2010. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
  2. "Hells Canyon Dam – General Information". Columbia Basin Research, University of Washington. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
  3. "Hells Canyon". Idaho Power. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  4. "Hells Canyon Dam : Hearings before the subcommittee on Irrigation and Reclamation of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs". Washington G.P.O. 1952. House of Representatives, 82nd Congress, 2nd session, on H.R. 5743. Retrieved April 6, 2018. Bill to authorize the construction, operation an maintenance of the initial phase of the Snake River reclamation project by the Secretary of the Interior.
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