John Day Dam


The John Day Dam is a concrete gravity run-of-the-river dam spanning the Columbia River in the northwestern United States. The dam features a navigation lock plus fish ladders on both sides. The John Day Lock has the highest lift of any U.S. lock. The reservoir impounded by the dam is Lake Umatilla, and it runs 76.4 miles up the river channel to the foot of the McNary Dam. John Day Dam is part of the Columbia River Basin system of dams.

Location

John Day Dam is located 28 miles 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 north. The closest town on the Oregon side is Rufus, Oregon. Its crest elevation is approximately above sea level. It joins Sherman County, Oregon with Klickitat County, Washington, 216 miles upriver from the mouth of the Columbia near Astoria, Oregon.

History

Construction of the dam began in 1958 and was completed in 1971, 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 28th, 1968.. John Day Dam was built and is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The condemnation of land upstream of the dam resulted led to the Supreme Court case United States v. Rands, a well-known case regarding the constitutional doctrine of navigable servitude. The dam's power generation capacity is 2,480,000 kW.
The dam underwent a major repair to the upper lock gate in 2010, as documented in the National Geographic Channel program "World's Toughest Fixes".

Specifications