Clear Creek Dam (Washington)

Last updated
Clear Creek Dam
Clear Creek Dam (4306998180).jpg
Country United States
Coordinates 46°37′40″N121°16′16″W / 46.62786°N 121.27104°W / 46.62786; -121.27104
StatusOperational
Opening date1915, 1964, 1990
Built by United States Bureau of Reclamation
Designed byUnited States Bureau of Reclamation
Dam and spillways
Impounds Tieton River
Height83 ft (25 m)
Reservoir
CreatesClear Lake
Total capacity5,300 acre⋅ft (6,500,000 m3)
Surface area260 acres (110 ha)
Normal elevation2,995 ft (913 m) [1]

Clear Creek Dam (National ID # WA00264) is a dam in Yakima County, Washington.

The concrete thin-arch dam was originally completed in 1915 by the United States Bureau of Reclamation at a height of 62 feet (19 m) and 404 feet (123 m) long at its crest. [2] Raised another 21 feet (6.4 m) feet in 1918 to its present height of 83 feet (25 m) feet, it was partially rebuilt in 1964 then found structurally unsafe in 1990, when it was drained to less than 5% of its design capacity. The dam was reconstructed (with a new reinforcing gravity-dam element buttressing the original thin-arch structure) and refilled by popular demand. [3]

The dam impounds the North Fork of the Tieton River, part of the Bureau's larger Yakima Project. Its use is now primarily recreational. Both dam and reservoir are owned and operated by the Bureau.

The reservoir it creates, Clear Lake, has a water surface of 260 acres (110 ha) and a capacity of 5,300 acre-feet (6,500,000 m3). Recreation includes boating and fishing, and the site is surrounded by the southern tip of the Wenatchee National Forest. [4] Also the YMCA of Yakima, Washington has Camp Dudley along its shores, a summer camp and retreat.

References

  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Clear Creek Dam (Washington)
  2. "Dam details - Clear Creek Dam - Bureau of Reclamation". Archived from the original on 2012-09-26. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  3. "Dam details - Clear Creek Dam - Bureau of Reclamation". Archived from the original on 2012-09-21. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  4. "Clear Lake Reservoir, Washington".