Owyhee Dam

 This is Owyhee Dam from the top. In the distance to the right you can see the "Glory Hole". It is the concrete colored thing. Its purpose is to provide a quick relief if the water gets so high that it might top the dam. As you can see from the pictures that the water is actually about 20 below the level that it should be. The reservoir's purpose is to provide irrigation for the "Treasure Valley". That would be Vale and Ontario Oregon. Both of which are a major producer of food stuffs. Onions are one of their biggest crops. The altitude is about 2500 feet and the growing season is very long.

The impoundment is quite long, and I would guess at 30 to forty miles. My favorite fishing hole is just up above the actual lake, where it is still a stream. The Owyhee River provides drainage to Nev, Idaho and Oregon High Deserts. It also flows North to dump into the Snake River at Adrian Oregon.

The dam was finished in 1929. It is about 400 feet high and about 500 feet across at the bottom. It is the first dam to ever have an elevator. It was built to test the design for Hoover Dam, and was the tallest dam until Hoover was built.

It is snugged in between two rock cliffs, and actually not all that wide at the bottom. 

As a reward for our services to the School kids, the adults were offered a tour of the Dam. I was very surprised when Karen decided to go along. She is very claustrophobic, thanks to an older brother that liked to lock her in closets occasionally.

I did not use a flash on any of the pictures inside the dam, primarily to save peoples eyes from the flash.

We are about 150 to 200 feet into the insides of the Dam and I was amazed that Karen was still handling it. For crying out loud, she gets nervous driving through tunnels! You don't suppose its my driving rather than the depths?

She appeared to be fine, until the guide wanted to show us what maintenance was like when the power goes out. 400 feet underground is quite dark. He kept talking and leaving the lights off for what seemed like a long time. I had put my hand on Karen's arm when he shut off the lights to try to prevent a runaway, if I could. When he turned the lights back on, she announced that she would wait outside.

                                 There is a power plant with the dam. 

These are the valves that open various chutes throughout the dam to control however much water is required. These things are about 3 feet through.

There are four observation platforms in the dam face. Two almost at the top and two close to the bottom.

This little ski slope houses the three large 4 or 5 foot tubes that really let the water out.

                          This is the tubes and the valves that open them.

Inside that room are some cracks in the structure that have developed over the years, and the pins that allow the workers to measure them to see if they are growing.

This little feature allows one to climb to the top of the dam if other avenues do not allow. The guide assured us he had never tried it.

                              This is one of the higher observation ports.

There were a lot of Carp feeding in the water around the base of the Dam. This one was a really old one about 4 feet long and covered in moss.

This is the escape for the water than goes into the "Glory Hole" that I showed you in the first picture. When it is active it is a giant whirlpool, and very impressive.