Link River Dam

Link River Dam
The Link River Dam complex
Location	Klamath Falls, U.S.
Coordinates	42°14′02″N 121°48′07″W / 42.23389°N 121.80194°W / 42.23389; -121.80194
Construction began	July 29, 1920
Opening date	October 29, 1921
Owner(s)	U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Gravity dam
Impounds	Link River
Height	7 m (23 ft)
Length	113 m (371 ft)
Spillway capacity	85 m3/s (3,002 cu ft/s)
Reservoir
Creates	Klamath Lake
Total capacity	1.1 km3 (890,000 acre⋅ft)
Maximum water depth	18 m (59 ft)
Power Station
Turbines	2
Installed capacity	151 MW

The Link River Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Link River in the city of Klamath Falls, Oregon, United States. It was built in 1921 by the California Oregon Power Company (COPCO), the predecessor of PacifiCorp, which continues to operate the dam. The dam is owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.^[1]

Link River Dam's reservoir, Klamath Lake, has a capacity of 873,000 acre-feet (1.077×10⁹ m³). The project provides flood control, generates hydro power, and stores most of the water used for irrigation in the Klamath Reclamation Project. The dam is 22 feet (7 m) high and 435 feet (133 m) long.

Its two channels can allow one outflow of 3,000 ft³/s (85 m³/s) with 1,000 ft³/s (28 m³/s) through the Ankeny Canal, and another outflow of 290 ft³/s (8 m³/s) through the Keno Canal. Those channels feed PacifiCorp's two hydroelectric turbines located downstream and generate 151 MW. All the flow is ultimately diverted down the Link River into Lake Ewauna.

In 2004 PacifiCorp announced the Link River power projects would be abandoned, as the cost to repair the canal and pipeline supplying the power turbines is too high to be economically viable. As of 2014 the company intends to continue to run the plant, in the short term and at reduced output. ^[2]