Amistad Dam |
|
| Country | United States, Mexico |
|---|---|
| Location | Texas/Coahuila |
| Coordinates | [1] |
| Status | In use |
| Construction began | 1963 |
| Opening date | 1969 |
| Construction cost | US$72,318,000 |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Earthfill |
| Height | 254 ft (77 m) |
| Length | 32,022 ft (9,760 m) |
| Volume | 17,055,000 cu yd (13,039,000 m3) |
| Impounds | Rio Grande |
| Type of spillway | Ogee crest, 16 tainter gates |
| Spillway capacity | 1,507,000 cu ft/s (42,700 m3/s) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Amistad Reservoir |
| Capacity | 5,658,600 acre·ft (6.9798 km3) |
| Surface area | 64,900 acres (26,300 ha) |
| Power station | |
| Hydraulic head | 234 ft (71 m) |
| Turbines | 9 |
| Installed capacity | 132 MW |
Amistad Dam is a large dam across the Rio Grande on the United States-Mexico border. It serves to store water for irrigation and generate hydroelectricity. The dam was first proposed in a 1944 treaty between the United States and Mexico. Construction began in 1963 and was finished in 1969, with the hydroelectric plants constructed in the 1980s. Of the dam's roughly US$72 million cost, Mexico shouldered about 4/7 of the funds and the United States about 3/7. At roughly 5 miles (8.0 km) long, the dam lies mostly on the Mexican side of the border and forms Amistad Reservoir.[2]