{{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}} {{Infobox dam | name =Little Goose Dam | image =LGLandDam.jpg | image_size =240 | image_caption =From the north side of the Snake River | name_official = | dam_crosses = | country = United States | location = Columbia / Whitman counties, Washington | location_map = USA#Washington | location_map_size = | location_map_caption = Location in the United States##Location in Washington | location_map_alt = | dam_type =Concrete-gravity,<br>run-of-the-river | operator =U.S. Army<br>Corps of Engineers | dam_elevation_crest ={{convert|643|ft|abbr=on}} AMSL | dam_length ={{convert|2655|ft|abbr=on}} | dam_height ={{convert|98|ft|abbr=on}} | dam_width_base = | construction_began =June 1963 | opening ={{start date and age|1970}} | cost = | res_name =Lake Bryan | res_capacity_total ={{convert|516300|acre feet|km3|3|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite web|title=The Four Lower Snake River Dams|url=http://www.bluefish.org/fourdams.htm|publisher=Bluefish.org|accessdate=17 July 2010}}</ref> | res_catchment = | res_surface ={{convert|10025|acre|km2}} | plant_turbines = 6 units x {{convert|135|-|153|MW|abbr=on}} | plant_capacity ={{convert|932|MW|abbr=on}} | spillway_type =Service, gate-controlled | coordinates = {{coord|46.587|-118.028|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | extra =center|240px|Columbia River Basin }} '''Little Goose Lock and Dam''' is a hydroelectric, concrete, run-of-the-river dam in the northwest United States, on the lower Snake River in southeast Washington. At the dam, the river is the border between Columbia and Whitman counties;<ref>{{cite web|title=The Columbia River System Inside Story|url=http://www.bpa.gov/power/pg/columbia_river_inside_story.pdf|publisher=BPA.gov|accessdate=17 July 2010|pages=14–15|archive-date=May 27, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527170919/http://www.bpa.gov/power/pg/columbia_river_inside_story.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> it is {{convert|9|mi|spell=in}} northeast of Starbuck and {{convert|25|mi}} north of Dayton.
== Description == thumb|left|Looking east, Little Goose Dam with lock & fish ladder on the right (south side of the river), spillway in the middle of the dam, and the power generation between the spillway and the lock.
Little Goose Dam is part of the Columbia River Basin system of dams. Lake Bryan, named for Enoch Albert Bryan, is formed behind the dam. The lake stretches to the base of Lower Granite Dam, {{convert|37|mi}} upstream. Lake Herbert G. West, formed from Lower Monumental Dam runs {{convert|28|mi}} downstream from the base of the dam.
Generating capacity is {{convert|810|MW}}, with an overload capacity of {{convert|932|MW}}; the spillway has eight gates and is {{convert|512|ft}} in length.
;Navigation lock * Single-lift * {{convert|86|ft}} wide * {{convert|668|ft}} long
== History == Construction began in June 1963 on what was Little Goose Island.<ref name=lghandy>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TjlWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yegDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5272%2C421108 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=Spokane, Washington |title=Little Goose's handy site will speed dam building |date=March 2, 1963 |page=6}}</ref><ref name=lgdph63>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tThWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7egDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5652%2C815083 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=Spokane, Washington |title=Little Goose Dam moving ahead |agency=(photo) |date=September 3, 1963 |page=6 }}</ref> The main structure and three generators were completed {{Time ago|1970}} in 1970, with an additional three generators finished in 1978.
There have been calls to remove the Little Goose Lock and Dam along with the other Lower Snake River (LSR) dams due to their impact on the salmon population and the fishing rights of local Native American tribes in the region.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last=Martin |first=Lucy |date=2022 |title=Decommissioning the Four Lower Snake River Dams. |journal=Water Resources Impact |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=19–}}</ref> Those in favor of keeping the dam argue that removing it would cause more reliance on fossil fuel based energy.<ref name=":02" /> Some species of salmon native to the Columbia River Basin are protected under the Endangered Species Act, which requires the federal government to come up with a plan to restore their populations.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Lopardo |first=Elizabeth |date=2020 |title=Dammed If You Don't, But What If You Do? Breaching the Lower Snake River Dams in Washington State |url=https://doi.org/10.1525/cse.2019.sc.1036402 |journal=Case Studies in the Environment |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=1–12 |doi=10.1525/cse.2019.sc.1036402 |s2cid=218827088 |via=DOI|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Breaching the Little Goose Dam and the other LSR dams is considered by many environmentalists to be the best option in restoring salmon populations quickly before they completely die out.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Blumm |first=Michael |date=1998 |title=SAVING SNAKE RIVER WATER AND SALMON SIMULTANEOUSLY: THE BIOLOGICAL, ECONOMIC, AND LEGAL CASE FOR BREACHING THE LOWER SNAKE RIVER DAMS, LOWERING JOHN DAY RESERVOIR, AND RESTORING NATURAL RIVER FLOWS. |journal=Environmental Law (Portland, Ore.) |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=997–1054}}</ref>
In 1855 and 1856, the federal government negotiated treaties with local Columbia River Basin tribes that guaranteed them the right to fish for salmon in areas where people had started to colonize in exchange for several million acres of land.<ref name=":2" /> Tribes are arguing now that they can’t fish for salmon on ancestral lands anymore because the populations have declined so dramatically as a result of the dams.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=VanDevelder |first=Paul |date=2000 |title=To Breach or Not to Breach? Salmon, Treaties and Snake River Dams. |journal=Indian Country Today (Oneida, N.Y.) |issue=40}}</ref> The Nez Perce Tribe, located in the area nearest to the Little Goose Lock and Dam, is one of the many Pacific Northwest (PNW) Tribes fighting for the LSR dams to be breached. Salmon and the acts of hunting and fishing are culturally significant to the tribes living in the Columbia River Basin. Salmon fishing is not only a major source of subsistence, but a spiritual tether to the land.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |title=Tribal Circumstances & Impacts from the Lower Snake River Project |url=https://critfc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/circum_exec.pdf |journal=}}</ref>
The dams have altered the landscape where tribes have historically carried out their ways of life. It’s estimated that nearly 34,000 acres of land and 150 miles of riverside would be restored if the dams were breached, allowing tribal hunting and fishing to be revitalized in areas that have been flooded and/or engineered for decades. Breaching the dams would also provide PNW tribes along the Columbia River Basin the chance to care for and reconnect with places that are considered sacred or used for ceremonial purposes. Tribes argue the dams have significantly reduced tribal wealth and well-being; tearing them down would not only help restore the salmon population but also provide justice to PNW tribes.<ref name=":5" />
The Little Goose Dam alone generates 810 megawatts (MW) of electricity. The combined generated electricity of the 4 LSR dams is about 3000 MWs, or enough electricity to light 50 million light bulbs.<ref name=":02" /> Some argue breaching the dams would lead to fossil fuel reliance in the region. The Washington State Government has a goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and are highly considering solar and wind power to be the replacement energy sources for the dam.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |date=2022 |title=BPA Lower Snake River Dams Power Replacement Study |journal=Bonneville Power Administration}}</ref>
== See also == {{Portal|United States|Water|Renewable energy}} *List of dams in the Columbia River watershed *Ice Harbor Dam * Little Goose Dam in Grand Forks County, North Dakota
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Little Goose Dam}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20051126062951/http://www.nww.usace.army.mil/dpn/dpn_project.asp?project_id=81 Little Goose Lock & Dam @ US Army Corps of Engineers]
{{Snake River Dams}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Dams completed in 1970 Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 1970 Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 1978 Category:Buildings and structures in Columbia County, Washington Category:Dams in Washington (state) Category:Hydroelectric power plants in Washington (state) Category:Buildings and structures in Whitman County, Washington Category:Run-of-the-river power stations Category:United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Category:Dams on the Snake River Category:Gravity dams