Link River Dam
| Link River Dam | |
|---|---|
The Link River Dam complex
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| Location | Klamath Falls, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 42°14′02″N 121°48′07″W / 42.23389°N 121.80194°WCoordinates: 42°14′02″N 121°48′07″W / 42.23389°N 121.80194°W |
| Construction began | July 29, 1920 |
| Opening date | October 29, 1921 |
| Owner(s) | U.S. Bureau of Reclamation |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Gravity dam |
| Impounds | Link River |
| Height | 7 m (23 ft) |
| Length | 113 metres (371 ft) |
| Spillway capacity | 85 m3/s (3,002 cu ft/s) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Klamath Lake |
| Total capacity | 1.1 km3 (890,000 acre·ft) |
| Maximum water depth | 18 m (59 ft) |
| Power station | |
| Turbines | 2 |
| Installed capacity | 151 MW |
The Link River Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Link River in the city of Klamath Falls, Oregon. It was built in 1921 by the California Oregon Power Company (COPCO), the predecessor of PacifiCorp, which continues to operate the dam. The dam is owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
Link River Dam's reservoir, Klamath Lake, has a capacity of 873,000 acre feet (1.077×109 m3). The project provides flood control, generates hydro power, and stores most of the water used for irrigation in the Klamath Reclamation Project. The dam is 22 feet (7 m) high and 435 feet (133 m) long.
Its two channels can allow one outflow of 3,000 ft³/s (85 m³/s) with 1,000 ft³/s (28 m³/s) through the Ankeny Canal, and another outflow of 290 ft³/s (8 m³/s) through the Keno Canal. Those channels feed PacifiCorp's two hydroelectric turbines located downstream and generate 151 MW. All the flow is ultimately diverted down the Link River into Lake Ewauna.
In 2004 PacifiCorp announced the Link River power projects would be abandoned, as the cost to repair the canal and pipeline supplying the power turbines is too high to be economically viable. As of 2014 the company intends to continue to run the plant, in the short term and at reduced output.
In 1878, five years after the Modoc Wars, residents of Linkville formed the "Linkville Water Ditch Company." They dug a low capacity canal that connected their homes with the Link River. A William Steele extended the ditch by 15 miles in 1884. After his death in 1888 the Klamath Falls Irrigation Company took over the canal. It is now known as the Ankeny Canal.
Charles and Rufus Moore dug a canal on the other side of the Link River in 1877 to power a sawmill and transport logs from Upper Klamath Lake. This later became known as the Keno Canal.
On February 24, 1917, officials from the USBR and COPCO reached an agreement to lease the Keno Canal for ten years at a rate of $1,000 per annum. The agreement also allowed the power company to regulate the outflows of Klamath Lake. In 1919, COPCO placed a temporary low-crib dam near what is now Putnam's Point in 1919. Construction began on the dam on July 29, 1920.
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