Keenleyside Dam

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Keenleyside Dam
Location Castlegar, British Columbia, Canada
Coordinates 49°20′22″N 117°46′19″W / 49.33944°N 117.77194°W / 49.33944; -117.77194Coordinates: 49°20′22″N 117°46′19″W / 49.33944°N 117.77194°W / 49.33944; -117.77194
Construction began 1968
Dam and spillways
Impounds Columbia River
Length 853.4 m (2,800 ft)
Height 52 m (171 ft)
Reservoir
Creates Arrow Lakes
Active capacity 8.76 km3 (7,100,000 acre·ft)
Power station
Turbines 2
Installed capacity 185 MW
Annual generation 772 GWh

Hugh Keenleyside Dam (originally known as the High Arrow Dam[1]) is a hydroelectric dam spanning the Columbia River, 12 km (6.5 miles) upstream of the city of Castlegar, British Columbia, Canada.

The reservoirs behind the dam is named Arrow Lakes extending 232 km (144 mi) north to Revelstoke Dam, and contain 8.76 km3 (7.1 MAF) of reservoir volume. The dam is operated by BC Hydro.[2]

The 853.4 m (2,800 ft) long earth fill and concrete dam was built as part of fulfilling Canada's role in the Columbia River Treaty, and was intended only to control the flow of water in the Columbia River for downstream dams. It was commissioned on October 10, 1968, six months ahead of schedule.[2]

A 185 megawatt (MW) powerhouse, the Arrow Lakes Generating Station, was added in 2002, it produces 772 GW.h annually.[3] The station is owned by the Columbia Power Corporation.

Several towns were dismantled and relocated before their sites were flooded, including Burton.[4]

The dam was named after Hugh Llewellyn Keenleyside, the Canadian ambassador to Mexico, 1944-1947. Hugh Keenleyside served as the chairman of the British Columbia Power Commission and co-chairman at the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority from 1962 to 1969.

The Arrow Lakes reservoir is described by BC Hydro as a "great waterway for boating". The dam is equipped with a navigation lock, which is available at no charge to boaters. However, commercial traffic and floating logs have priority over leisure crafts.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Construction of the High Arrow Dam at Columbia Basin Institute of Regional History
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 BC Hydro (2004-08-23), Hugh Keenleyside Dam, archived from the original on 2008-02-21 
  3. ↑ Columbia Power Corporation, Arrow Lakes Generating Station, retrieved 2010-08-24 
  4. ↑ Vaillant, John (November 2008), "Muskwa-Kechika", National Geographic Magazine, retrieved 2010-08-24 
  5. ↑ BC Hydro (2005-11-15), Arrow Lakes Reservoir, retrieved 2010-08-24 

See also

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