Bridge Canyon Dam
| Bridge Canyon Dam | |
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Map showing the Bridge and Marble Canyon Dam projects
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 Location of the proposed Bridge Canyon Dam in the western United States
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| Country | United States |
| Location | Mohave County, Arizona |
| Coordinates | 35°48′53″N 113°34′01″W / 35.81472°N 113.56694°WCoordinates: 35°48′53″N 113°34′01″W / 35.81472°N 113.56694°W |
| Status | Proposed |
| Construction cost | $500 million (est.) |
| Owner(s) | U.S. Bureau of Reclamation |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | Colorado River |
| Height | 740 ft (230 m) |
| Length | 1,700 ft (520 m) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Bridge Canyon Reservoir |
| Total capacity | 3,710,000 acre·ft (4.58 km3) |
| Catchment area | 140,000 sq mi (360,000 km2) |
| Surface area | 24,000 acres (9,700 ha) |
| Normal elevation | 1,866 ft (569 m) |
| Power station | |
| Hydraulic head | 672 ft (205 m) |
| Installed capacity | 1,500 MW |
| Annual generation | 5.36 billion KWh |
Bridge Canyon Dam, also called Hualapai Dam, was a proposed dam in the lower Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, in northern Arizona in the United States. It would have been located near Bridge Canyon Rapids in an extremely rugged and isolated portion of the canyon, 235 miles (378 km) downstream of Lee's Ferry and at the uppermost end of Lake Mead.
First proposed in the 1920s, the project was seriously considered by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for a period of over twenty years from the early 1950s to 1968. If built, the dam would have stood 740 feet (230 m) high, forming a reservoir stretching more than ninety miles (150 km) upstream, including thirteen miles (21 km) along the border of Grand Canyon National Park. The dam would serve mainly for hydropower production in conjunction with several others further upstream including Marble Canyon Dam, on the Colorado, Green and other rivers.
Due to its enormous potential for environmental destruction and the dwindling flows of the Colorado River, the project stalled in 1968 after years of public opposition. However, the location is considered one of the best remaining sites for a large dam in the western United States.
Bridge Canyon Dam was first seriously considered in the mid-20th century as part of the Pacific Southwest Water Plan, which aimed to deliver water from the Colorado River to central Arizona in order to allow that state to utilize its full allotment in the Colorado River Compact. The proposed project would involve a canal running from Lake Havasu on the Colorado River to supply metro Phoenix and the surrounding irrigated lands. A pair of dams within the Grand Canyon would provide the hydroelectric power necessary to pump the water 300 feet (91 m) uphill along the canal's course. One of these dams would be located at the lower end of Marble Canyon and was known as Marble Canyon or Redwall Dam; the other, known as Bridge Canyon Dam or Hualapai Dam, would be situated in Bridge Canyon in Lower Granite Gorge. The two dams would generate a combined 12.2 billion kilowatt hours (KWh) annually with a total installed capacity between 2000 and 3000 megawatts (MW).
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