Island Park Dam is operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in Fremont County, Idaho, United States. The dam lies in Targhee National Forest near Island Park. The zoned earthfill dam was built between 1937 and 1939 as part of the Minidoka Project, which provides water to irrigate farmland in Idaho's Snake River Plain.[1]
| Island Park Dam | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Location of Island Park Dam in Idaho | |
| Location | Fremont County, Idaho, near Island Park, Idaho |
| Coordinates | 44°25′06.92″N 111°23′47.50″W / 44.4185889°N 111.3965278°W |
| Construction began | 1937 |
| Opening date | 1939 |
| Operator(s) | U.S. Bureau of Reclamation |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Zoned earthfill dam |
| Impounds | Henrys Fork |
| Height | 94 ft (29 m) |
| Length | 9,500 ft (2,900 m) |
| Spillway type | Ungated bathtub |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Island Park Reservoir |
| Total capacity | 135,205 acre-feet (0.166773 km3) |
| Catchment area | 482 sq mi (1,250 km2)[1] |
The dam provides only water storage, impounding 135,000 acre-feet (0.167 km3), which is distributed by the Cross Cut Canal to farms in Fremont and Madison counties in Idaho, and Teton County in Wyoming.[1] The Island Park and Grassy Lake reservoirs were built as an alternative to construction of a larger project that would have flooded the Falls River area of Yellowstone National Park.[2][3]
Climate
editIsland Park Dam has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) bordering upon a subalpine climate (Dfc). Summers feature very warm afternoons and chilly mornings, whilst winters are freezing and very snowy with an annual snowfall averaging 214 inches or 5.44 metres and reaching 375 inches or 9.53 metres between July 1974 and June 1975. The dam's weather recording site holds the record for the eighth-lowest temperature recorded in the United States (and lowest temperature recorded in Idaho) at −60 °F or −51.1 °C.
| Climate data for Island Park Dam, Idaho | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 49 (9) |
55 (13) |
62 (17) |
76 (24) |
84 (29) |
91 (33) |
97 (36) |
96 (36) |
91 (33) |
82 (28) |
68 (20) |
56 (13) |
97 (36) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 40 (4) |
44 (7) |
52 (11) |
64 (18) |
75 (24) |
82 (28) |
87 (31) |
88 (31) |
82 (28) |
71 (22) |
54 (12) |
41 (5) |
88 (31) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 26.5 (−3.1) |
31.6 (−0.2) |
38.5 (3.6) |
48.4 (9.1) |
59.8 (15.4) |
68.8 (20.4) |
79.0 (26.1) |
78.5 (25.8) |
68.7 (20.4) |
54.9 (12.7) |
37.2 (2.9) |
27.6 (−2.4) |
51.6 (10.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 3.0 (−16.1) |
4.8 (−15.1) |
10.5 (−11.9) |
21.5 (−5.8) |
31.1 (−0.5) |
37.7 (3.2) |
42.9 (6.1) |
40.7 (4.8) |
32.8 (0.4) |
25.1 (−3.8) |
14.9 (−9.5) |
5.6 (−14.7) |
22.6 (−5.2) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −28 (−33) |
−25 (−32) |
−16 (−27) |
3 (−16) |
19 (−7) |
27 (−3) |
33 (1) |
30 (−1) |
22 (−6) |
11 (−12) |
−9 (−23) |
−23 (−31) |
−33 (−36) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −60 (−51) |
−47 (−44) |
−36 (−38) |
−18 (−28) |
7 (−14) |
20 (−7) |
25 (−4) |
17 (−8) |
8 (−13) |
−6 (−21) |
−34 (−37) |
−51 (−46) |
−60 (−51) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 3.80 (97) |
2.93 (74) |
2.48 (63) |
2.03 (52) |
2.49 (63) |
2.71 (69) |
1.25 (32) |
1.45 (37) |
1.50 (38) |
1.89 (48) |
2.56 (65) |
3.55 (90) |
28.64 (728) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 48.6 (123) |
37.5 (95) |
29.3 (74) |
13.9 (35) |
4.1 (10) |
0.4 (1.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.1 (0.25) |
1.0 (2.5) |
6.6 (17) |
25.3 (64) |
47.9 (122) |
214.7 (543.75) |
| Average precipitation days | 15 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 116 |
| Source 1: Western Regional Climate Center[4] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [5] | |||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ a b c "Island Park Dam". Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
- ^ Haines, Aubrey L. (1996). The Yellowstone Story: A History of Our First National Park. University Press of Colorado. p. 346. ISBN 0-87081-390-0.
- ^ Yochim, Michael J. "Conservationists and the Battles to Keep Dams Out of Yellowstone: Hetch Hetchy Overturned" (PDF): 299.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "ISLAND PARK, IDAHO". Western Regional Climate Center. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
- ^ "ISLAND PARK, IDAHO". NOAA. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
External links
edit- Island Park Dam Archived 2012-09-26 at the Wayback Machine at the Bureau of Reclamation