Black Canyon Diversion Dam | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 43°55′50″N 116°26′11″W / 43.93046°N 116.43635°W |
Purpose | Power |
Status | Operational |
Construction began | 1922 |
Opening date | 1924 |
Built by | United States Bureau of Reclamation |
Owner(s) | Bureau of Reclamation |
Operator(s) | Bureau of Reclamation |
Dam and spillways | |
Type of dam | Gravity dam |
Impounds | Payette River |
Height (foundation) | 183 feet (56 m) |
Height (thalweg) | 112 feet (34 m) |
Length | 1,902 feet (580 m) |
Elevation at crest | 2,500 feet (760 m) |
Dam volume | 81,200 cubic yards (62,100 m3) |
Spillway type | Ogee crest controlled by three 64-foot-long steel drum gates |
Spillway capacity | 41,240 cubic feet per second (1,168 m3/s) |
Reservoir | |
Creates | Black Canyon Reservoir |
Total capacity | 31,200 acre-feet (38,500,000 m3) |
Surface area | 1.7 square miles (4.4 km2) |
Type | Conventional |
Turbines | 2 Francis turbines |
Installed capacity | 10.2 MW |
Capacity factor | 70.8 |
Black Canyon Diversion Dam (National Inventory of Dams ID ID00282) is a dam in Gem County, Idaho.
The concrete dam was originally completed in 1924, then re-constructed between 1951 and 1955, by the United States Bureau of Reclamation. Its structure has a height of 183 feet (56 m), and a length of 1,902 feet (580 m) at its crest.[1] It impounds the Payette River for the diversion of water into the Black Canyon and North Side Main irrigation canals, and the generation of about 2 megawatts of hydroelectric power, part of the Bureau's larger Boise Project.[2] The dam is owned and operated by the Bureau.
The riverine reservoir it creates, the Black Canyon Reservoir, has a normal water surface of 1.7 square miles (4.4 km2),[1] about twelve miles of shoreline, and an original maximum capacity of 44,700 acre-feet, reduced by siltation to about 31,200 acre-feet.[3] Recreation includes boating and fishing.[4] The installation of a third hydropower generating unit has been funded by Bonneville Power Administration for completion in 2013.[5]