Link River Dam
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The Link River Dam is a concrete dam on the Link River in the U.S. state of Oregon It was built by the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). The dam was built to contain the waters of Klamath Lake as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project. The water stored behind the dam supplies most of the water used for irrigation within the project's boundaries.
In addition to storing water for irrigation, the Link River Dam powers two hydroelectric power plants located downstream. The two turbines are part of a group of seven projects, supplying 151 MW for PacifiCorp. PacifiCorp recently[citation needed] announced the Link River power projects are being abandoned as the cost to repair the canal and pipeline suppling the power turbines is too high to be economically viable.
The dam itself is 22 feet (7 m) high and 435 feet (133 m) long. It can allow an outflow of 3,000 ft³/s (85 m³/s) with 1,000 ft³/s (28 m³/s) through the Ankeny Canal (seen in the photograph), 290 ft³/s (8 m³/s) through the Keno Canal, and the rest being dumped down the Link River into Lake Ewauna. The two canals serve PacifiCorp's hydroelectric turbines before flowing back into the river.
Link River Dam's reservoir, Klamath Lake, has a capacity of 873,000 acre-feet (1.1 km³).
[edit] History
The current Link River Dam was built in 1927 as part of the Klamath Project. Before 1927, various individuals had built canals and made use of natural dams to divert water for both irrigation and power purposes.
In 1882, five years after the Modoc Wars, residents of Linkville formed the "Linkville Water Ditch Company." They dug a low capacity canal that connected their homes with the Link River. William Steele extended the ditch by 15 miles in 1884. After his death in 1888 the Klamath Falls Irrigation Company took over the canal. It is now known as the Ankeny Canal.
Charles and Rufus Moore dug a canal on the other side of the Link River in 1877 to power a sawmill and transport logs from Upper Klamath Lake. This later became known as the Keno Canal.
On February 24, 1917, officials from the USBR and the California-Oregon Power Company reached an agreement to lease the Keno Canal for ten years at a rate of $1000 per annum. The agreement also allowed the power company to regulate the outflows of Klamath Lake.
The California-Oregon Power company placed a temporary low-crib dam near what is now Putnam's Point in 1919. Construction began on the dam on July 29, 1920.
Senator George E. Chamberlain of Oregon telegraphed Secretary of the Interior John B. Payne on August 20, 1920, requesting he halt dam construction long enough to determine the legality of the 1917 contract. Payne issued a supplemental contract on December 10, and California-Oregon Power restarted construction on May 15, 1921, finishing it on October 29.
