The Dalles Lock and Dam is a concrete-gravity

run-of-the-river Run-of-river hydroelectricity (ROR) or run-of-the-river hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric generation plant whereby little or no water storage is provided. Run-of-the-river power plants may have no water storage at all or a limited amou ...

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

spanning the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

, two miles (3 km) east of the city of

The Dalles, Oregon The Dalles is the largest city of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the largest city on the Oregon side of the Columbia River between the Portland Metropolitan Area, and Hermiston ...

, United States. It joins

Wasco County, Oregon Wasco County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,213. Its county seat is The Dalles. The county is named for a local tribe of Native Americans, the Wasco, a Chinook tribe who ...

with

Klickitat County, Washington Klickitat County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,735. The county seat and largest city is Goldendale. The county is named after the Klickitat tribe. History Klickitat County ...

, upriver from the mouth of the Columbia near

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corne ...

. The closest towns on the

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

side are Dallesport and Wishram. The

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

(USACE) began work on the dam in 1952 and completed it five years later.

Slack water Slack water is a short period in a body of tidal water when the water is completely unstressed, and there is no movement either way in the tidal stream, and which occurs before the direction of the tidal stream reverses. Slack water can be estim ...

created by the dam submerged

Celilo Falls Celilo Falls (Wyam, meaning "echo of falling water" or "sound of water upon the rocks," in several native languages) was a tribal fishing area on the Columbia River, just east of the Cascade Mountains, on what is today the border between the U.S. ...

, the economic and cultural hub of Native Americans in the region and the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Inhabitants of the submerged area include the

Wasco–Wishram Wasco-Wishram are two closely related Chinook Indian tribes from the Columbia River in Oregon. Today the tribes are part of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs living in the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Oregon and Confederated Tribes and ...

and

Skinpah The Skinpah (also known as the Skeen, Skin, or Shutes) were a Sahaptin people living along the northern bank of the Columbia River in what is now south-central Washington. They were first recorded as the Eneeshurs in 1805 by Lewis and Clark, with ...

. On March 10, 1957, hundreds of observers looked on as the rising waters rapidly silenced the falls, submerged fishing platforms, and consumed the village of Celilo. Ancient petroglyphs were also in the area being submerged. Approximately 40

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

panels were removed with jackhammers before inundation and were placed in storage before being installed in Columbia Hills State Park in the 2000s. The

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

behind the dam is named

Lake Celilo Lake Celilo is a long reservoir on the Columbia River in the United States, between the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. It was created in 1957 with the construction of The Dalles Dam near The Dalles, Oregon, and stretches upstream to the Jo ...

and runs up the river channel, to the foot of

John Day Dam The John Day Dam is a concrete gravity run-of-the-river dam spanning the Columbia River in the northwestern United States. The dam features a navigation lock plus fish ladders on both sides. The John Day Lock has the highest lift (at ) of any U.S. ...

. The dam is operated by the USACE, and the power is marketed 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 ...

(BPA). It is part of an extensive system of dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The Dalles Dam Visitor Center, in

Seufert Park Seufert County Park is a public park located just east of The Dalles, Oregon, United States, and is operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The park's main attraction is The Dalles Dam Visitor Center where one can view exhibits regar ...

on the

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 ...

shore, was built in 1981. A tour train was closed in autumn 2001, partly due to post-

September 11 Events Pre-1600 * 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hun ...

security concerns, and partly due to deteriorating track conditions and a small derailment. The Columbia Hills State Park is nearby. The Dalles Dam is one of the ten

largest hydroelectric dams in the United States Hydroelectricity is, as of 2019, the second-largest renewable source of energy in both generation and nominal capacity (behind wind power) in the United States. In 2021, hydroelectric power produced 31.5% of the total renewable electricity, a ...

. Along with hydro power, the dam provides irrigation water, flood mitigation, navigation, and recreation. The Dalles Lock and Dam has been designated as a

National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark __NOTOC__ The following is a list of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks as designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers since it began the program in 1964. The designation is granted to projects, structures, and sites in the United State ...

by the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Environmental and social consequences

Prior to the construction of the dam, Celilo Falls was a hub for local Native American trading and fishing. The area served as a spiritual monument as well, and continues to be the site of traditional ceremonies, during which people celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of the spring

salmon run ''Salmon Run'' is a 1982 video game for the Atari 8-bit family created by Bill Williams and distributed via the Atari Program Exchange. ''Salmon Run'' was the first game in Williams's career, followed by a string of successes noted for their o ...

. The construction of the Dalles Dam was extremely damaging to salmon runs in the Columbia River. The physical dam makes it difficult for fish to navigate the river and reach their spawning grounds. Even with the installation of

fish ladder A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as movemen ...

s, salmon populations have struggled. Celilo Falls and the traditional rights of local Native American tribes to fish were protected by a government treaty, but with the onset of the Cold War and the legacy of

Bonneville Dam Bonneville Lock and Dam consists of several run-of-the-river dam structures that together complete a span of the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington at River Mile 146.1. The dam is located east of Portland, Oregon, ...

, completed in 1938, the USACE looked to develop another hydro power production facility on the Columbia River. The Dalles' location on the mid-Columbia River below the falls made it an ideal hydro power production site. The Dalles Dam was authorized under the 1950 Flood Control Act, with the federal government able to work around the treaty with local tribes by paying them a settlement. However, despite assurances from the USACE that they would work to improve living conditions in Celilo as part of the settlement, these efforts failed for lack of attention by the federal government. Since 2016, the USACE has worked on The Dalles Lock & Dam Tribal Housing Village Development Plan. This plan is designed to find a location for and construct a village for members of the tribes that historically relied on Celilo Falls for fishing. The Village Development Plan had been slated to be finished by fall of 2020, however, as of April 2023 it has not been completed. In 2017, various senators from the states of Oregon and Washington signed a letter to the Director of the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

, expressing concern about the Office's plan to halt the project. In 2007, the USACE conducted a

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...

survey of the riverbed of Celilo Falls to determine whether the former site of the falls had been destroyed by the construction of the dam. The survey found that the geological features on the riverbed match those observed in photos of the falls prior to the construction of the dam. Hypothetically, this establishes that the falls would return if the dam were to be removed.

Specifications

* Altitude: above sea level * Height: (Lake Celilo normal pool elevation ) * Length: * Navigation lock: ** Single-lift ** wide ** long * Powerhouse: ** Length: ** Fourteen 94,400 kilowatt units ** Eight 104,000 kilowatt units ** Total capacity: 1,878.3 megawatts ** Overload capacity: 2,160 MW * Spillway: ** Gates: 23 ** Length: ** Capacity:

Gallery

References

External links

The Dalles Lock & Dam
he U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
"The Dalles Dam to Submerge Famous Indian Fishing Spot."
''Popular Mechanics'', April 1956, pp. 138–140. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalles Columbia River Gorge Dams in Oregon Dams in Washington (state) Dams on the Columbia River Hydroelectric power plants in Washington (state) Hydroelectric power plants in Oregon Buildings and structures in Klickitat County, Washington Buildings and structures in The Dalles, Oregon Run-of-the-river power stations Tourist attractions in Wasco County, Oregon United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Dams completed in 1957 Energy infrastructure completed in 1957 1957 establishments in Oregon Gravity dams Articles containing video clips 1957 establishments in Washington (state) Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks

Environmental and social consequences

Specifications

Gallery

See also

References

External links