The Dalles Dam

Dalles Dam
From the Washington side
Official name	The Dalles Lock and Dam
Location	Klickitat County, Washington / Wasco County, Oregon, USA
Coordinates	45°36′44″N 121°08′04″W
Dam and spillways
Type of dam	Concrete gravity, run-of-the-river
Height	260 feet (79 m)
Length	8,875 feet (2,705 m)
Spillway type	Service, gate-controlled
Reservoir
Creates	Lake Celilo
Total capacity	330,000 acre⋅ft (0.41 km3)
Power Station
Turbines	22
Installed capacity	1,779.8 MW
Annual generation	6,180 GWh

Vice-President Richard Nixon speaking at The Dalles Dam dedication in 1959.

Newsreel footage of native fishers at Celilo Falls in 1956, shortly before the site was submerged by the Dalles Dam (35 sec.) (media help)

The Dalles Dam is a concrete-gravity run-of-the-river dam spanning the Columbia River, two-miles (3 km) east of the city of The Dalles, Oregon, United States. It joins Wasco County, Oregon with Klickitat County, Washington, 192 miles (309 km) upriver from the mouth of the Columbia near Astoria, Oregon. The closest towns on the Washington side are Dallesport and Wishram.

The Army Corps of Engineers commenced work on the dam in 1952 and completed it five years later. Slackwater created by the dam submerged Celilo Falls, the economic and cultural hub of Native Americans in the region and the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in North America. On March 10, 1957, hundreds of observers looked on as the rising waters rapidly silenced the falls, submerged fishing platforms, and consumed the village of Celilo.

The reservoir behind the dam is named Lake Celilo and runs 24 miles (39 km) up the river channel, to the foot of John Day Dam. The dam is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the power is marketed by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). It is part of an extensive system of dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers.

The Dalles Dam Visitor Center is located at Seufert Park on the Oregon shore, and was built in 1981. Visitors used to be able to ride a tour train, which has been closed since autumn 2001. The closure is due to post-September 11 concerns, the deteriorating conditions of the tracks, and a small derailment of the train. The Columbia Hills State Park is nearby.

There is a growing movement of people who would like to see the Dalles Dam removed. The main argument is that more revenue can be made from tourism and sport fishing industry in contrast to electricity. The inundated Celilo Falls and Dalles Rapids were sacred sights for Native American tribes for thousands of years. These Native Americans were forcibly removed from their homes when the Dam was completed. Further, the tribes living at Celilo were hardly compensated. For these reasons the Dalles Dam remains controversial and unpopular for many Native Americans, sportsmen, river tourism interests, environmentalists and others who would much prefer to see the river returned to its natural state. Dam removal, it is argued would create a booming tourism industry and bring much needed jobs to the struggling region.

Specifications

Tributaries of the Columbia River, showing hydroelectric dams

• Altitude: 79 feet (24 m) above sea level
• Height: 81 feet (25 m) (Lake Celilo normal pool elevation 160 feet)
• Length: 8,875 feet (2,705 m)
• Navigation lock:
  • Single-lift
  • 86 feet (26 m) wide
  • 650 feet (198 m) long
• Powerhouse:
  • Length: 2,089 feet (636.7 m)
  • Fourteen 78,000 kilowatt units
  • Eight 85,975 kilowatt units
  • Total capacity: 1,779.8 megawatts
  • Overload capacity: 2,038 MW
• Spillway:
  • Gates: 23
  • Length: 1,380 feet (420 m)
  • Flow: 5,038 m³/s (177,900 cu ft/s)

Gallery

• 
  The Dalles Dam site plan.
• 
  Looking west, fish ladder in the foreground, power generation center. Mount Hood rises in the background.
• 
  The Dalles Dam in
  June 1973.

External links

• The Dalles Lock & Dam - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• "The Dales Dam to Submerge Famous Indian Fishing Spot." Popular Mechanics, April 1956, pp. 138-140.