Chief Joseph Dam
Template:Use American English Template:Infobox dam
The Chief Joseph Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River, Template:Convert upriver from Bridgeport, Washington. The dam is Template:Convert upriver from the mouth of the Columbia at Astoria, Oregon. It is operated by the USACE Chief Joseph Dam Project Office and the electricity is marketed by the Bonneville Power Administration.
History
The dam was authorized as Foster Creek Dam and Powerhouse for power generation and irrigation by the River and Harbor Act of 1946. The River and Harbor Act of 1948 renamed the project Chief Joseph Dam in honor of the Nez Perce chief who spent his last years in exile on the Colville Indian Reservation. Because of its lack of fish ladders, Chief Joseph Dam completely blocks salmon migration to the upper Columbia River system. However, neither the next dam upstream or downstream, Grand coulee and Wells dam, respectively, posses fish ladder systems either.
Construction began in 1950, with the main dam and intake structure completed in 1955. Installation of the initial generating units was started in 1958 and completed in 1961. Ten additional turbines were installed between 1973 and 1979, and the dam and lake were raised Template:Convert, boosting the capacity to Template:Nowrap, making Chief Joseph Dam the second largest hydroelectric power producer in the United States.<ref>Chief Joseph Dam, US Army Corps of Engineers</ref> The vast majority (80% on average) of the power from Chief Joseph dam is sent to the Everett area of western Snohomish county via the Bonneville Snohomish substation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, power produced at the dam is not only used in Washington, but also in Oregon, Montana, Idaho, California, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada.
Type
Chief Joseph Dam is a run-of-the-river dam, which means the lake behind the dam is not able to store large amounts of water. Water flowing to Chief Joseph Dam from Grand Coulee Dam must be passed on to Wells Dam at approximately the same rate. With 27 main generators in the powerhouse, it has the hydraulic capacity of Template:Convert.
In the event more water flows to Chief Joseph Dam than could be used for power generation, the spillway gates would be opened to pass the excess water. With an average annual flow rate of Template:Convert, the Columbia River seldom exceeds the powerplant's capability to pass water, and spilling of water is infrequent at Chief Joseph Dam.
Reservoir
The reservoir behind the dam is named Rufus Woods Lake, and runs Template:Convert up the river channel. Bridgeport State Park, on the lake, is adjacent to the dam.
See also
- Hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River
- List of power stations in Washington
- List of dams in the Columbia River watershed
- List of largest hydroelectric power stations in the United States
References
Template:Reflist Template:Commons category
External links
- Chief Joseph Dam - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Official site)
- Template:Cite GNIS
- Dams on the Columbia River
- Dams in Washington (state)
- Buildings and structures in Douglas County, Washington
- Hydroelectric power plants in Washington (state)
- Buildings and structures in Okanogan County, Washington
- Run-of-the-river power stations
- United States Army Corps of Engineers dams
- Dams completed in 1955
- Energy infrastructure completed in 1958
- Energy infrastructure completed in 1973
- Energy infrastructure completed in 1979
- Gravity dams
- 1979 establishments in Washington (state)
- 1955 establishments in Washington (state)