John C. Boyle Reservoir is an artificial impoundment behind John C. Boyle Dam on the

Klamath River The Klamath River (Karuk: ''Ishkêesh'', Klamath: ''Koke'', Yurok: ''Hehlkeek 'We-Roy'') flows through Oregon and northern California in the United States, emptying into the Pacific Ocean. By average discharge, the Klamath is the second larges ...

in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. The lake is west-southwest of Klamath Falls along

Oregon Route 66 Oregon Route 66 is an Oregon state highway that runs between the cities of Ashland and Klamath Falls. The highway is known as the Green Springs Highway No. 21 (see Oregon highways and routes), and is signed east-to-west. Route description Ore ...

. The dam is at about

river mile A river mile is a measure of distance in miles along a river from its mouth. River mile numbers begin at zero and increase further upstream. The corresponding metric unit using kilometers is the river kilometer. They are analogous to vehicle road ...

(RM) 225 or river kilometer (RK) 362, about by river downstream of the community of

Keno Keno is a lottery-like gambling game often played at modern casinos, and also offered as a game in some lotteries. Players wager by choosing numbers ranging from 1 through (usually) 80. After all players make their wagers, 20 numbers (some va ...

. The relevant quadrangle is Spencer Creek. Spencer Bridge carries the highway over the lake at about its midpoint. Water from the reservoir is diverted through a

sluice Sluice ( ) is a word for a channel controlled at its head by a movable gate which is called a sluice gate. A sluice gate is traditionally a wood or metal barrier sliding in grooves that are set in the sides of the waterway and can be considered ...

to the Boyle Powerhouse, about downstream of the dam. Fluctuations of up to daily in the reservoir level occur as water is added for storage or diverted for power generation.Sheehan, p. 259

History

The California–Oregon Power Company (COPCO), which later merged with Pacific Power, a future subsidiary of

PacifiCorp PacifiCorp is an electric power company in the western United States. PacifiCorp has two business units: # Pacific Power, a regulated electric utility with service territory throughout Oregon, northern California, and southeastern Washington. # ...

, built the dam in the mid-1950s as part of the multi-dam

Klamath River Hydroelectric Project The Klamath River Hydroelectric Project is a series of hydroelectric dams and other facilities on the mainstem of the Klamath River, in a watershed on both sides of the California/Oregon border. The infrastructure was constructed between 1903 a ...

. Meant primarily to generate

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other Renewabl ...

, the reservoir can hold up to of water. Originally called ''Big Bend Reservoir'', it was renamed in 1962 for John C. Boyle, COPCO's vice president, general manager, and chief engineer. The Boyle dam is one of four Klamath River dams that may be removed as early as 2020 if the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

eventually agrees. The other three, all owned by PacifiCorp and all in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, are Iron Gate, Copco 2, and Copco 1. A tentative agreement reached in 2009 by major stakeholders, including PacifiCorp, would remove the dams to restore

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

runs blocked below Iron Gate for about a century.As of February 25, 2022, the FERC released their final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the dam's removal. The dam is expected to be removed sometime in 2023 or 2024. It is named after John C. Boyle (1899-1979), who was vice president, general manager, and long-time chief engineer of the California Oregon Power Company (COPCO), a privately held utility that served southern Oregon and portions of northern California.

Recreation

The reservoir supports

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...

ranging from , which can be fished for by boat or from the bank. Other fish found in the lake include

black crappie The black crappie (''Pomoxis nigromaculatus'') is a freshwater fish found in North America, one of the two types of crappies. It is very similar to the white crappie in size, shape, and habits, except that it is darker, with a pattern of black sp ...

white crappie The white crappie (''Pomoxis annularis'') is a freshwater fish found in North America, one of the two species of crappies. Alternate common names for the species include goldring and silver perch. is named for the fish. The genus name ''Pomoxis ...

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...

brown bullhead The brown bullhead (''Ameiurus nebulosus'') is a fish of the family Ictaluridae that is widely distributed in North America. It is a species of bullhead catfish and is similar to the black bullhead (''Ameiurus melas'') and yellow bullhead (''Ame ...

, and pumpkinseed sunfish. Topsy Recreation Site, maintained by the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

, has a campground, a boat launch, a dock, and a fishing pier at J. C. Boyle Reservoir. Swimming, picnicking, and bird-watching are among recreational activities in addition to camping and fishing.

References

{{authority control Lakes of Klamath County, Oregon Reservoirs in Oregon 1950s establishments in Oregon

History

Recreation

See also

References