Brownlee Dam is a hydroelectric

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

 earth fill embankment dam

Embankment dam

An embankment dam is a massive artificial water barrier. It is typically created by the emplacement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil, sand, clay and/or rock. It has a semi-permanent waterproof natural covering for its surface, and a dense, waterproof...

 on the Snake River

Snake River

The Snake is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean...

 on the Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

-Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 border, in Hells Canyon

Hells Canyon

Hells Canyon is a wide canyon located along the border of eastern Oregon and western Idaho in the United States. It is North America's deepest river gorge at and part of the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area....

 (river mile

River mile

In the United States, a River mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometers is the River kilometer...

 285). It impounds the Snake River in the 58 miles (93.3 km) long Brownlee Reservoir. It is part of the Hells Canyon Project that also includes Hells Canyon Dam

Hells Canyon Dam

Hells Canyon Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Snake River in Hells Canyon on the Idaho-Oregon border. The dam impounds the Snake River in Hells Canyon Reservoir; its spillway elevation is above sea level....

 and Oxbow Dam

Oxbow Dam

Oxbow Dam is a hydroelectric run-of-the-river rockfill dam on the Snake River on the Idaho-Oregon border, in Hells Canyon . It is part of the Hells Canyon Project that also includes Hells Canyon Dam and Brownlee Dam, built and operated by Idaho Power Company.The dam's powerhouse contains four...

, built and operated by Idaho Power Company

Idaho Power Company

Idaho Power Company is a regulated electrical power utility. Its business involves the purchase, sale, generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in eastern Oregon and southern Idaho. It is a subsidiary of IDACORP, Inc...

.

The dam's powerhouse contains five generating units with a total nameplate capacity of 585.4 megawatts.

Lacking passage for migrating salmon

Salmon

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...

, the three Hells Canyon Project dams blocked access by anadromous salmonids to a stretch of the Snake River drainage basin

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 from Hells Canyon Dam up to Shoshone Falls

Shoshone Falls

Shoshone Falls is a waterfall on the Snake River located approximately five miles east of Twin Falls, Idaho. Sometimes called the "Niagara of the West," Shoshone Falls is 212 feet high—45 feet higher than Niagara Falls—and flows over a rim 1,000 feet wide.A park overlooking the waterfall is...

, which naturally prevents any upstream fish passage to the upper Snake River basin.

Heliport

There is a 100-by-60-foot (30 x 18 m) private heliport, Brownlee Heliport, located near the dam.

External links

• Brownlee Dam, Columbia Basin Research
• Brownlee Dam, Northwest Power and Conservation Council
• Brownlee Dam, Idaho Power