Oxbow Dam

44°58′15″N 116°50′04″W / 44.97083°N 116.83444°W / 44.97083; -116.83444Opening date1961; 63 years ago (1961)^[1]Operator(s)Idaho Power CompanyDam and spillwaysImpoundsSnake RiverHeight175 feet (53 m)ReservoirCreatesOxbow ReservoirTotal capacity58,200 acre-feet (71,800,000 m³)Catchment area73,300 square miles (190,000 km²)Surface area1,150 acres (470 ha)Power StationInstalled capacity190 megawatts (250,000 hp)Annual generation1,047 gigawatt-hours (3,770 TJ)

Oxbow Dam is a hydroelectric run-of-the-river rockfill dam in the western United States, on the Snake River in Hells Canyon (river mile 273) along the Idaho-Oregon border.

Description

Completed 63 years ago in 1961,^[1] the dam is part of the Hells Canyon Project that also includes Hells Canyon Dam and Brownlee Dam, all built and operated by Idaho Power Company.

The dam's powerhouse contains four generating units with a total nameplate capacity of 190 megawatts (250,000 hp).

Lacking passage for migrating salmon, the three Hells Canyon Project dams blocked access by anadromous salmonids to a stretch of the Snake River drainage basin from Hells Canyon Dam up to Shoshone Falls, which naturally prevents any upstream fish passage to the upper Snake River basin.

Heliport

Oxbow Heliport (FAA LID: OR83) is a private 100-by-100-foot (30 by 30 m), turf heliport owned by Idaho Power.^[2]

See also

• Copperfield, Oregon
• Oxbow, Oregon
• List of dams in the Columbia River watershed

References

External links

• Oxbow Dam, Columbia Basin Research
• Oxbow Dam, Northwest Power and Conservation Council
• Oxbow Dam, Idaho Power
• Resources for this airport:
  • FAA airport information for OR83
  • AirNav airport information for OR83
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for OR83