Hauser Lake Dam
| Hauser Dam | |
|---|---|
Hauser Dam in late 1908 during its reconstruction.
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| Official name | Hauser Dam |
| Location | Lewis and Clark County, Montana, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 46°45′55″N 111°53′13″W / 46.76528°N 111.88694°WCoordinates: 46°45′55″N 111°53′13″W / 46.76528°N 111.88694°W |
| Construction began | 1905 (first dam); 1908 (second dam) |
| Opening date | 1907 (first dam); 1911 (second dam) |
| Operator(s) | NorthWestern Corporation |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | Missouri River |
| Height | 80 feet (24 m) (second dam) |
| Length | 700 feet (210 m) (second dam) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Hauser Lake |
| Power Station | |
| Installed capacity | 17 MW |
| Annual generation | 135,340,000 KWh (2009) |
| Power transmission: 69 kV single-circuit | |
Hauser Dam (also known as Hauser Lake Dam) is a hydroelectric straight gravity dam on the Missouri River about 14 miles (23 km) northeast of Helena, Montana, in the United States. The original dam, built between 1905 and 1907, failed in 1908 and caused severe flooding and damage downstream. A second dam was built on the site in 1908 and opened in 1911 and comprises the present structure. The current Hauser Dam is 700 feet (210 m) long and 80 feet (24 m) high. The reservoir formed by the dam, Hauser Lake (also known as Hauser Reservoir) is 25 miles (40 km) long, has a surface area of 3,800 acres (1,500 ha), and has a storage capacity of 98,000 acre feet (121,000,000 m3) of water when full.
The dam is a "run-of-the-river" dam because it can generate electricity without needing to store additional water supplies behind the dam. The powerhouse contains six generators, bringing Hauser dam's generating capacity to 17 MW.
The first Hauser Dam was built by the Missouri River Power Company and its successor, the United Missouri River Power Company. Samuel Thomas Hauser, a former Territorial Governor of Montana from 1885 to 1887, enjoyed a lengthy career in banking, mining, railroads, ranching, and smelting, but encountered a series of financial setbacks after the Panic of 1893 which nearly ruined him financially. In his early 60s, Hauser began to rebuild his finances by branching out into the relatively new industry of hydroelectric power generation. In 1894, he formed the Missouri River Power Company, and won the approval of the United States Congress to build a dam (Hauser Dam) 2 miles (3.2 km) below Stubbs' Ferry. In 1905, Hauser and other directors of the Missouri River Power Company formed the Helena Power Transmission Company (also known as the "Helena Power and Transmission Company"). The two companies merged on February 16, 1906, to form the United Missouri River Power Company.
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