Brownlee Dam is a hydroelectric earth fill embankment dam in the western United States, on the Snake River along the Idaho-Oregon border (Washington County, Idaho in and Baker County in Oregon). In Hells Canyon at river mile 285, it impounds the Snake River in the 58-mile-long (93 km) Brownlee Reservoir.
Brownlee Dam | |
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Location in Idaho Location in the United States | |
Official name | Brownlee Dam |
Country | United States |
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] |
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) |
Normal elevation | 2,070 feet (630 m) |
Power Station | |
Installed capacity | 585.4 MW |
Annual generation | 2,406.8 GWh |
The dam is part of the Hells Canyon Project that also includes Hells Canyon Dam and Oxbow Dam, all built and operated by Idaho Power Company. The first and upper-most of the three dams,[5] its contractor was Morrison-Knudsen of Boise.[1][2][6] Filling started 66 years ago on May 9, 1958 ,[3] flooding the community of Robinette, Oregon.
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.[7]
There is a 100-by-60-foot (30 by 18 m) private heliport, Brownlee Heliport (FAA LID: OR75), located near the dam.