The Boise River Diversion Dam is a

diversion dam A diversion dam is a dam that diverts all or a portion of the flow of a river from its natural course. Diversion dams do not generally impound water in a reservoir; instead, the water is diverted into an artificial water course or canal, which ...

in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States, on the

Boise River The Boise River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. , accessed May 3, 2011 tributary of the Snake River in the Northwestern United States. It drains a rugged portion of the Sawtooth Range in sou ...

southwestern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

. southeast and upstream of

Boise Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area's ...

Ada County Ada County is located in the southwestern part of Idaho, United States. As of the 2021 United States census estimate, the county had a population of 511,931, making it by far the state's most populous county; it is home to 26.8% of the state's p ...

, it was completed in 1909 and is operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The diverted water fills the concrete

New York Canal The New York Canal is an irrigation canal in the Western United States, western United States, located in Southwestern Idaho, southwestern Idaho. Sourced from the Boise River, it originates at the Boise River Diversion Dam, Diversion Dam in ...

, the primary

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

channel for Ada and

Canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

counties in the

Treasure Valley The Treasure Valley is a valley in the western United States, primarily in southwestern Idaho, where the Payette, Boise, Weiser, Malheur, Owyhee, and Burnt rivers drain into the Snake River. It includes all the lowland areas from Vale in rur ...

. Several miles upstream of the Diversion Dam is

Lucky Peak Dam Lucky Peak Dam is a rolled earth and gravel fill embankment dam in the western United States, located on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho. In Ada County east of Boise, it is directly downstream of Arrowrock Dam, a concrete arch dam com ...

. Completed in 1955, it was built and is operated by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

Construction

In March 1906, the Utah Fire Proofing Company began work on the Boise River Diversion Dam with the provision that the structure would be completed within one year. It soon became apparent that the dam would not be finished on time. With little experience in such endeavors, Utah Fire Proofing failed to provide adequate foremen for the project. At least nineteen superintendents worked on the dam and their incompetence led to an extraordinary turnover in labor. Inclement weather and flooding caused at least two months' worth of delays and forced the crews to rebuild part of the structure. By April 16, 1907, the dam was only 41% complete. It took another year and a half before the diversion works were ready to unload into the New York Canal. The company eventually lost $90,000 on the contract. And to make matters worse in March 1909, a log foreman "maliciously" removed the boom above the dam and allowed timber roll over the embankment causing $73,000 worth of damage. Yet when the structure was completed it worked famously. The Diversion Dam is high and in length, with an overall capacity of .

Powerhouse

To provide power for the construction of

Arrowrock Dam Arrowrock Dam is a concrete arch dam in the western United States, on the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, east of Boise. Opened in 1915, it is located on the border of Boise and Elmore counties, upstream of the Lucky Peak Dam and reservoir. ...

upstream, Reclamation retrofitted the Diversion Dam with a small powerhouse.hmdb.org
- Diversion Dam - Idaho #343 - accessed 2011-12-05 Finished in 1912, the plant's three generators produced 1,500 kilowatts of electricity for Arrowrock's camp, sawmills, and giant cement mixers. The

Allis-Chalmers Allis-Chalmers was a U.S. manufacturer of machinery for various industries. Its business lines included agricultural equipment, construction equipment, power generation and power transmission equipment, and machinery for use in industrial setti ...

turbines were the first in the world to be built with a vertical shaft design. Along with the power lines, government forces hung a two-way

phone cable A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into ele ...

to connect Arrowrock with the outside world; the dam was completed in 1915. In 1976, the power plant was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. After being refurbished by the

Bonneville Power Administration The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is an American federal agency operating in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Columbia River and to constr ...

in 2002, it is now on ready reserve status and occasionally provides surplus power during times of peak demand. Special care was made to maintain the historic qualities of the powerhouse. The original governors, slate control panels, transformers, overhead crane, and generator housings, although no longer functional, were retained for historic purposes.

References

External links

*{{HAER , survey=ID-17-A , id=id0184 , title=Boise Project, Boise River Diversion Dam, Across Boise River, Boise vicinity, Ada County, ID
Hydroworld.com
- Modernizing a powerhouse while preserving historic qualities - Boise River Diversion Dam
YouTube.com
- video of Diversion Dam - 2010-05-15
Panaramio.com
- photos - Boise River Diversion Dam - 2007 Dams on the Boise River Buildings and structures in Ada County, Idaho Hydroelectric power plants in Idaho Dams completed in 1908 Dams on the National Register of Historic Places in Idaho Energy infrastructure completed in 1912 Historic American Engineering Record in Idaho United States Bureau of Reclamation dams Boise Project National Register of Historic Places in Ada County, Idaho 1908 establishments in Idaho