Brownlee Dam facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Brownlee Dam |
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| Official name | Brownlee Dam |
| 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 |
| Opening date | May 9, 1958 66 years ago |
| 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) |
| Power station | |
| Installed capacity | 585.4 MW |
| Annual generation | 2,406.8 GWh |
Dam
Dam
Brownlee Dam is a hydroelectric earth fill embankment dam in the western United States, on the Snake River on the Idaho-Oregon border, In Hells Canyon at river mile 285, it impounds the Snake River in the 58-mile (93 km)-long Brownlee Reservoir.
It is part of the Hells Canyon Project that also includes Hells Canyon Dam and Oxbow Dam, built and operated by Idaho Power Company. The first and upper-most of the three dams, its contractor was Morrison-Knudsen of Boise. It started filling on May 9, 1958, 66 years ago, flooding the community of Robinette.
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.
Heliport
There is a 100-by-60-foot (30 by 18 m) private heliport, Brownlee Heliport, (FAA LID: OR75) located near the dam.
