Jackson Lake Dam

{{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Infobox dam | name = Jackson Lake Dam | image = JacksonLakeDam1997.JPG | image_size = 230 | image_caption = Looking west in June 1997 from the<br>north shore of the Snake River | name_official = | dam_crosses = Snake River | location = Teton County, Wyoming, in Grand Teton National Park | dam_type = Concrete gravity with earth embankment wings | dam_length = {{Convert|4920|ft|abbr=on}} | dam_height = {{Convert|65|ft|abbr=on}} | plant_hydraulic_head = | dam_width_base = {{Convert|72|ft|abbr=on}} | dam_width_crest = {{Convert|24|ft|abbr=on}} | dam_volume = | spillway_type = gated overflow | spillway_capacity = 8690cfs at 6790 ft | construction_began = 1911 | opening = {{start date and age|1916}} | cost = | operator = U.S. Bureau of Reclamation | res_name = Jackson Lake | res_capacity_total = {{convert|847000|acre.ft|km3|lk=in}} | res_catchment = {{Convert|1824|sqmi|abbr=on}} | location_map = Wyoming#USA | coordinates = {{coord|43|51|27.53|N|110|35|22.54|W|type:landmark_source:gnis|display=inline,title}} | extra = 250px|center|Columbia River Basin dams }} '''Jackson Lake Dam''' is a concrete and earth-fill dam in the western United States, at the outlet of Jackson Lake in northwestern Wyoming. The lake and dam are situated within Grand Teton National Park in Teton County.<ref name=lmt83>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RWtfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4C4MAAAAIBAJ&pg=3319%2C3084844 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |last=Horsley |first=Lynn |agency=Associated Press |title=Jackson Lake Dam |date=May 9, 1983 |page=8B}}</ref> The Snake River emerges from the dam and flows about {{convert|800|mi|spell=in}} through Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington to its mouth on the Columbia River in eastern Washington.

The chief purpose of the dam is to provide water storage for irrigation in the Snake River basin in the state of Idaho as part of the Minidoka Project. Jackson Lake is a natural lake, but its depth was increased by the dam to provide water storage.

==History== The first Jackson Lake Dam was a log-crib dam constructed in 1906–07 across the outlet of Jackson Lake, a natural lake. That dam raised the lake level by {{convert|22|ft|1}}, but the dam failed in 1910. A new concrete and earthen dam was constructed in stages between 1911 {{nowrap|and 1916,<ref name=lmt83/>}} raising the maximum lake level to {{convert|30|ft|0|spell=in}} above the lake's natural elevation, providing a storage capacity of {{convert|847,000|acre.ft|e9m3|lk=in|abbr=off|sigfig=2}}.<ref name=usbr1>{{cite web|title=Minidoka Project|url=http://www.usbr.gov/projects/Project.jsp?proj_Name=Minidoka+Project|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Reclamation|accessdate=May 3, 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925152815/http://www.usbr.gov/projects/Project.jsp?proj_Name=Minidoka+Project|archivedate=September 25, 2012}}</ref> The new dam was designed by Frank A. Banks, who would later supervise the construction of Grand Coulee Dam.<ref>The United Press. Builder of Grand Coulee To Retire and Live Near It. ''The New York Times'', September 12, 1950.</ref>

The reservoir was created by damming the outlet of the natural glacial Jackson Lake, with the additional height creating a storage pool for the Minidoka Project, which provides irrigation water from the Snake River for farmlands in Idaho. Jackson Lake stores and releases water which is collected by Minidoka Dam and American Falls Dam more than {{convert|100|mi|spell=in}} downstream for diversion to distribution canals.<ref name="usbr1"/><ref name=stene1>{{cite web|last=Stene|first=Eric A.|title=The Minidoka Project|url=http://www.usbr.gov/projects//ImageServer?imgName=Doc_1245093434100.pdf|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Reclamation|year=1997|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005083935/http://www.usbr.gov/projects//ImageServer?imgName=Doc_1245093434100.pdf|archivedate=October 5, 2012}}</ref> At the time of the dam's construction, Jackson Hole and the Teton Range were as yet unprotected from development. Grand Teton National Park was established in 1929, and excluded Jackson Lake.

The lake was incorporated into Jackson Hole National Monument when it was proclaimed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt under the Antiquities Act, and became a part of Grand Teton National Park in 1950 when the park was expanded to encompass the national monument lands. When the dam was built there was no attempt to clear the shores of the lake of standing timber, resulting in an unsightly band of dead trees when the waters rose. This vista, and the mudflats created by drawdown of lake waters, were cited in later years in successful arguments against reservoirs in Yellowstone National Park.<ref name=haines1>{{cite book|last=Haines|first=Aubrey L.|title=The Yellowstone Story: A History of Our First National Park|year=1996|publisher=University Press of Colorado|isbn=0-87081-390-0|page=346}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |last=Yochim |first=Michael J. |title=Conservationists and the Battles to Keep Dams Out of Yellowstone: Hetch Hetchy Overturned |url=http://www.georgewright.org/01yp_yochim.pdf |conference=6th Biennial Scientific Conference |page=299}}</ref>

Construction personnel for the dam were housed at a temporary camp that dwarfed the nearby town of Moran. Supplies came in from the Grassy Lake Road north of the park, which runs west into Idaho to meet the nearest railhead at Ashton, Idaho.<ref name=apcjh13a>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/grte2/hrs13a.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206034239/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/grte2/hrs13a.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 6, 2007|date=August 12, 2008|work=A Place Called Jackson Hole: A Historic Resource Study of Grand Teton National Park|title=Chapter 13: The Communities of Jackson Hole|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=April 19, 2011}}</ref>

==Reinforcement== The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation conducted studies on dams in 1976 and determined that Jackson Lake Dam was susceptible to failure in case of an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 or greater. Following the Borah Peak earthquake of 1983 in Idaho, the dam was upgraded during 1986–1989, and the Bureau of Reclamation believed it could withstand the "maximum credible earthquake," a magnitude 7.5 quake on the Teton fault. Since then various studies have cast doubt on this belief.<ref>Angus M. Thuermer Jr. [http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/Archives/FeatureArchive/2003/030205-feature.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130126190140/http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/Archives/FeatureArchive/2003/030205-feature.html |date=January 26, 2013 }} ''Science to settle dam debate'' Safety of Jackson Lake Dam is being reassessed as new technology comes to fore.</ref><ref>Bureau of Reclamation [http://www.usbr.gov/pn/programs/srao_misc/jackson/jacksongrdmotion.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310201335/https://www.usbr.gov/pn/programs/srao_misc/jackson/jacksongrdmotion.pdf|date=March 10, 2018}} 'Final Report Ground Motion Evaluation for Jackson Lake Dam Minidoka Project, Wyoming</ref><ref>Casper Star Tribune [http://trib.com/news/national/new-quake-study-rattles-jackson/article_f3fffc8b-b00e-5a1a-8ac9-f6f112d2af72.html] New quake study rattles Jackson</ref><ref>Tsuda, K.; Archuleta, R. J.; O'Connell, D. R.; Bonilla, F. L. [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002AGUFM.T22B1157T] Nonlinear Wave propagation at sediment layers</ref><ref>Angus M. Thuermer Jr. [http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/Archives/NewsArchive/2003/030129-News.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130127041518/http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/Archives/NewsArchive/2003/030129-News.html |date=January 27, 2013 }} County, feds fight over dam safety County says officials are hiding studies, muzzling scientists.</ref><ref>O'Connell, D. R.; Graves, R. W.; Block, L. V. [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002AGUFM.S12B1213O] Strong Motion Prediction Within a Basin Located Above the Teton Fault in Wyoming</ref>

==Dam facts and figures== The dam is owned and operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which maintains the water level above the lake's natural elevation for downstream irrigation.

*Type: Concrete gravity dam with earthen embankment wings *Drainage area: {{convert|1824|sqmi|km2|0}} *Lake elevation: **Normal full pool: {{convert|6760|ft|m}} **Maximum pool: {{convert|6769|ft|m}} **Minimum pool: {{convert|6730|ft|m}} **Maximum water surface: {{convert|6770.3|ft|m}} *Usable storage (6730–6760 ft): {{convert|847,000|acre.ft|e9m3|lk=in|abbr=unit|sigfig=2}} *Crest elevation: {{convert|6777|ft}} *Crest length: {{convert|4920|ft}} *Crest width: {{convert|24|ft|1}} *Base width: {{convert|72|ft}} *Structural height: {{convert|65|ft}}

<gallery> Image:USBR Jackson Lake Dam 1.jpg|Jackson Lake Dam. View is to the west. Image:USBR Jackson Lake Dam 2.jpg|Jackson Lake Dam. View is to the northwest. </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{commonscat|Jackson Lake Dam}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080313061037/http://www.usbr.gov/dataweb/dams/wy01385.htm U.S. Bureau of Reclamation: Jackson Lake Dam] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20061230081515/http://www.usbr.gov/dataweb/html/minidoka.html U.S. Bureau of Reclamation: Minidoka Project] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060902233644/http://www.src.uwyo.edu/corridor/bdyIssues.html University of Wyoming: The Operation and Management of Jackson Lake Dam] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070701100807/http://www.nwd-wc.usace.army.mil/report/jck.htm U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Jackson Lake Dam and Lake Hydrologic Data] *[http://www.nature.nps.gov/water/WaterProfessionals/Water_Professionals_Presentations/17_November2004_Wednesday/Concurrent_Technical_Session4A/SusanONey-041117.pdf U.S. National Park Service: The Snake River: Responses to Jackson Lake Dam] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070803140126/http://www.nature.nps.gov/water/WaterProfessionals/Water_Professionals_Presentations/17_November2004_Wednesday/Concurrent_Technical_Session4A/SusanONey-041117.pdf |date=August 3, 2007 }} (PDF)[link expired]

Category:Dams in Wyoming Category:Dams on the Snake River Category:Buildings and structures in Teton County, Wyoming Category:Minidoka Project Category:United States Bureau of Reclamation dams Category:Dams completed in 1916 Category:Gravity dams Category:1916 establishments in Wyoming