News Release Archive

Reclamation Maintenance Repairs Require Drawdown at Black Canyon Diversion Dam

Media Contact: John Redding, (208) 378-5212, jredding@pn.usbr.gov
Robert Adams, radams@pn.usbr.gov

For Release: November 14, 2008

The Bureau of Reclamation will be performing maintenance work that requires the lake level behind Black Canyon Diversion Dam to be drawn down about 30 feet while crews make necessary repairs. Black Canyon Diversion Dam is located on the Payette River about 5 miles northeast of Emmett, Idaho.

Maintenance crews will be making concrete repairs to the upstream face of the dam as well as improvements to the trashrack intake structure at the dam. Water levels are expected to remain low until January 2009.

"This is a routine maintenance project that is necessary to ensure the continued safe operation of the dam," said Robert Adams, Reclamation facility manager. "The lower lake level is essential to reach areas that would normally be underwater."

Black Canyon Diversion Dam, completed in 1924, is a concrete gravity diversion dam with a structural height of 183 feet. The dam is a multipurpose facility that provides irrigation water and hydropower.

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The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.