Mackay Reservoir is a reservoir on the

Big Lost River The Big Lost River is a major river in the U.S. state of Idaho, about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 4, 2011 Description The river starts in the Rocky Mountai ...

in Custer County,

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 ...

, United States.

Description

The reservoir is located in the Lost River Valley below the

Lost River Range The Lost River Range is a high mountain range of the Rocky Mountains, located in Central Idaho, in the Northwestern United States. It runs southeast for approximately from the Salmon River near the community of Challis to the Snake River Vall ...

about northwest of

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airpor ...

. The land surrounding the reservoir offers opportunities for boating, fishing, camping, and hunting, among other activities. The reservoir is impounded by Mackay Dam, which was built in 1918 by the Big Lost River Irrigation District.

U.S. Route 93 U.S. Route 93 (US 93) is a major north–south United States highway, numbered highway in the western United States. The southern terminus is at U.S. Route 60 in Arizona, US 60 in Wickenburg, Arizona. The northern terminus is at the ...

travel along the eastern side of the reservoir. The towns of Mackay and

Arco ARCO ( ) is a brand of gasoline stations currently owned by Marathon Petroleum after BP sold its rights. BP commercializes the brand in Northern California, Oregon and Washington, while Marathon has rights for the rest of the United States an ...

put on a Fourth of July fireworks show at the reservoir every year.

Details

The dam face is high. The reservoir covers and has a storage capacity of of water. It is stocked annually with fish by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. The reservoir sits between the Pioneer Mountains and the

at the base of Mt. McCaleb.

History

The dam was completed in 1918 by the Utah Construction Company. It served irrigation canals in the Lost River Valley. In June 1933, the control tower and diversions were attacked by "unknown persons" using dynamite. At the time, it was suspected that these residents and farmers were desperate for more water during the drought and thought the dam was to blame. The primary dam structure was undamaged. This prompted the owners, the Utah Construction Company, to drop its selling price on the dam, and in 1936, the town of Mackay purchased it under the Lost River Irrigation District. Since that time, Mackay has hosted an annual barbecue in the fall to celebrate the purchase of the reservoir, which residents fondly call "The Res". Mackay Reservoir survived the

1983 Borah Peak earthquake The 1983 Borah Peak earthquake occurred on October 28, at in the western United States, in the Lost River Range at Borah Peak in central Idaho. The shock measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Vi ...

, despite extensive damage to the nearby towns of Mackay and Challis.

Safety

In 2011 several environmentalist groups submitted a request for preventative action to Idaho Gov.

Butch Otter Clement Leroy "Butch" Otter (born May 3, 1942) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 32nd governor of Idaho from 2007 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in 2006, and reelected in 2010, and 2014. Otter ...

regarding the Mackay Reservoir. In their letter, they cite reasons for possible dam failure, including the age of the dam, proximity to a fault, inadequate monitoring of dam conditions, lack of warning system for residents, and failure to follow inspector recommendations. This was following a 2009 inspection report which stated, “Much about this dam is not known due to poor documentation during initial construction and subsequent modifications. The amount of leakage observed at the right-center toe of the dam is cause for concern despite claims by the owner that ‘it has always leaked like that’”.

References

External links