Depth of John Day Dam pool is illustrated by this 1967 photo showing the new UPRR bridge, with old bridges at sites to be submerged below.
| John Day Dam | |
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John Day Dam
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| Location | Sherman County, Oregon / Klickitat County, Washington United States |
| Coordinates | 45°42′59″N 120°41′40″W / 45.71639°N 120.69444°W / 45.71639; -120.69444 |
| Construction began | 1958[1] |
| Opening date | 1971 |
| Construction cost | US$511 million |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Concrete gravity, run-of-the-river |
| Impounds | Columbia River |
| Height | 56 m (184 ft) |
| Length | 2,327 m (7,635 ft) |
| Spillway type | Service, gate-controlled |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Lake Umatilla |
| Total capacity | 2,530,000 acre⋅ft (3.12×109 m3) |
| Power Station | |
| Operator(s) | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers |
| Type | Run-of-the-river |
| Turbines | 16 × 140 MW |
| Installed capacity | 2,240 MW |
| Annual generation | 8,418 GWh (2009)[2] |
The John Day Dam is a concrete gravity run-of-the-river dam spanning the Columbia River in the northwestern United States.[3] The dam features a navigation lock plus fish ladders on both sides. The John Day Lock has the highest lift (at 110 feet or 34 meters) of any U.S. lock.[4] The reservoir impounded by the dam is Lake Umatilla,[5] and it runs 76.4 miles (123.0 km) up the river channel to the foot of the McNary Dam. John Day Dam is part of the Columbia River Basin system of dams.
John Day Dam is located 28 miles (45 km) east of the city of The Dalles, Oregon, and just below the mouth of the John Day River. The closest town on the Washington side is Goldendale, 20 miles (32 km) north. The closest town on the Oregon side is Rufus, Oregon. Its crest elevation is approximately 570 feet (170 m) above sea level. It joins Sherman County, Oregon with Klickitat County, Washington, 216 miles (348 km) upriver from the mouth of the Columbia near Astoria, Oregon.
Construction of the dam began in 1958 and was completed in 1971,[1] making it the newest dam on the lower Columbia, at a total cost of US$511 million. The pool was filled in 1968 and a dedication ceremony was held on September 28, 1968.[6] John Day Dam was built and is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The condemnation of land upstream of the dam led to the Supreme Court case United States v. Rands,[7] a well-known case regarding the constitutional doctrine of navigable servitude. The dam's power generation capacity is 2,480,000 kW (overload capacity). The dam underwent a major repair to the upper lock gate in 2010, as documented in an episode of the National Geographic Channel program World's Toughest Fixes.[8]
As of 2007, the 76-mile-long reservoir formed the deadliest stretch of the Columbia River for migrating young salmon.[9]
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Hydroelectric dams on the Columbia River
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