Swan Falls Dam

Infobox_Dam
dam_name = Swan Falls Dam


caption =
crosses = Snake River
reservoir =
locale = Idaho
maint = Idaho Power Company
length = 1,150 feet (350 m) [http://npdp.stanford.edu/DamDirectory/DamDetail.jsp?npdp_id=ID00049 Swan Falls Dam] , NPDP Dam Directory]
height = 107 feet (33 m)
width =
began =
open = 1901 [http://www.idahopower.com/riversrec/parksrec/swanfalls.htm Swan Falls Dam] , Idaho Power]
cost =
reservoir_capacity = 7,425 acre feet (9,159,000 m³)
reservoir_catchment = 41,900 sq mi (108,520 km²)
reservoir_surface = 1,525 acres (6.17 km²)
map_cue =
map_

map_text =
map_width =
coordinates = coord|43|14|36|N|116|22|21|W|region:US_type:landmark Gnis|398654|Swan Falls Dam, USGS, GNIS]
extra =

Swan Falls Dam is a concrete gravity type hydroelectric dam on the Snake River, in the U.S. state of Idaho. It is located near Murphy, Idaho.

The dam was built in 1901 to generate electricity. It is the oldest hydroelectric dam on the Snake River. In the 1990s the original power plant was replaced with a new one. The dam was built with fish passage facilities, but they proved to be very poor in performance. For this reason, among others, the C. J. Strike Dam, built upriver from Swan Falls Dam in the early 1950s, was not equipped with fish passage facilities. Thus the two dams combined to become the first artificial barrier to anadromous fish migration up the Snake River. Today Hells Canyon Dam is the first total barrier to fish migration on the Snake. [http://www.nwcouncil.org/fw/subbasinplanning/lowermidsnake/plan/, Middle Snake Subbasin Plan] , Northwest Power and Conservation Council]

The dam and its reservoir lie within the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area. The dam and power plant were listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

References