Thief Valley Reservoir

Last updated
Thief Valley Reservoir
Thief Valley Reservoir.png
Satellite image
USA Oregon relief location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Thief Valley Reservoir
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
Thief Valley Reservoir
Location Baker / Union counties, Eastern Oregon, United States
Coordinates 45°01′32″N117°47′57″W / 45.0256565°N 117.7991738°W / 45.0256565; -117.7991738 [1]
Type Reservoir
Primary inflows Powder River
Primary outflows Powder River
Basin  countriesUnited States
Surface elevationc. 3,000 ft (910 m)

Thief Valley Reservoir is a large reservoir on the Powder River in Eastern Oregon, United States. Primarily used for irrigation purposes, it lies at an elevation of approximately 3,000 feet, covers an area of 740 acres, and impounds 17,600 acre-feet. It provides good angling opportunities for rainbow trout in years of high water.

The reservoir was created in 1932 by the Thief Valley Dam, a project of the United States Bureau of Reclamation. The dam is a concrete-slab-and-buttress Ambursen structure, 73 feet high and 390 feet long. [2] The dam was designed by Frank A. Banks. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Melones Dam</span> Dam in California

New Melones Dam is an earth and rock filled embankment dam on the Stanislaus River, about 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Jamestown, California, United States, on the border of Calaveras County and Tuolumne County. The water impounded by the 625-foot-tall (191 m) dam forms New Melones Lake, California's fourth-largest reservoir, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada east of the San Joaquin Valley. The dam serves mainly for irrigation water supply, and also provides hydropower generation, flood control, and recreation benefits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Dam</span> Dam in Trinity County, California

Trinity Dam is an earthfill dam on the Trinity River located about 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Weaverville, California in the United States. The dam was completed in the early 1960s as part of the federal Central Valley Project to provide irrigation water to the arid San Joaquin Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millerton Lake</span> Reservoir in Fresno and Madera counties, California

Millerton Lake is an artificial lake near the town of Friant, about 15 mi (24 km) north of downtown Fresno, California, United States. The reservoir was created by the construction of 319 ft high Friant Dam on the San Joaquin River which, with the lake, serves as much of the county line between Fresno County to the south and Madera County to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emigrant Lake (Oregon)</span> Reservoir near Ashland, Oregon, US

Emigrant Lake is a reservoir located 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Ashland, Oregon, at the southern end of the Rogue Valley. It has an elevation of 2,241 feet (683 m) above sea level. The lake has an average surface area of 806 acres (3.26 km2), and an average volume of 40,530 acre-feet (49,990,000 m3). The lake is impounded by Emigrant Lake Dam, which stands 205 feet (62 m) above the surrounding farmland, and is located on Emigrant Creek at the west side of the lake. The spillway is at the northern tip of the lake. Emigrant Creek is a tributary of Bear Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owyhee Dam</span> Dam in Malheur County, Oregon

Owyhee Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Owyhee River in Eastern Oregon near Adrian, Oregon, United States. Completed in 1932 during the Great Depression, the dam generates electricity and provides irrigation water for several irrigation districts in Oregon and neighboring Idaho. At the time of completion, it was the tallest dam of its type in the world. The dam is part of the Owyhee Dam Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warm Springs Reservoir</span> Reservoir in Oregon, United States

Warm Springs Reservoir is a reservoir on the boundary between Harney and Malheur counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located 13 miles (21 km) southwest of Juntura at an elevation of 3,406 feet (1,038 m). The lake's primary inflow and outflow are both the Malheur River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unity Lake State Recreation Site</span>

Unity Lake State Recreation Site is a state park in the U.S. state of Oregon, administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bully Creek Reservoir</span> Reservoir in Malheur County, Oregon

Bully Creek Reservoir is a reservoir in Malheur County of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is an impoundment of Bully Creek, a tributary of the Malheur River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McKay Reservoir</span> Reservoir in Umatilla County, Oregon

McKay Reservoir is a reservoir in Umatilla County of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is an impoundment of McKay Creek, a tributary of the Umatilla River. The reservoir is located 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Pendleton on U.S. Route 395. The reservoir has a capacity of 65,534 acre-feet (80,835,000 m3) of water. The reservoir and land that immediately surrounds it are designated as the McKay Creek National Wildlife Refuge. The reservoir and creek that it impounds are named for Dr. William C. McKay. McKay was an early settler in the Pendleton, Oregon area. He settled near the mouth of McKay Creek about 1851. The place was originally called Houtama. He died in Pendleton in 1893.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rio Grande Project</span>

The Rio Grande Project is a United States Bureau of Reclamation irrigation, hydroelectricity, flood control, and interbasin water transfer project serving the upper Rio Grande basin in the southwestern United States. The project irrigates 193,000 acres (780 km2) along the river in the states of New Mexico and Texas. Approximately 60 percent of this land is in New Mexico. Some water is also allotted to Mexico to irrigate some 25,000 acres (100 km2) on the south side of the river. The project was authorized in 1905, but its final features were not implemented until the early 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O'Neill Dam</span> Dam in California, U.S.

O'Neill Dam is an earthfill dam on San Luis Creek, 12 miles (19 km) west of Los Banos, California, United States, on the eastern slopes of the Pacific Coast Ranges of Merced County. Forming the O'Neill Forebay, a forebay to the San Luis Reservoir, it is roughly 2.5 miles (4.0 km) downstream from the San Luis Dam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whiskeytown Dam</span> Dam in California, United States

Whiskeytown Dam is an earthfill dam on Clear Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River of northern California in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klamath Diversion</span>

The Klamath Diversion was a federal water project proposed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in the 1950s. It would have diverted the Klamath River in Northern California to the more arid central and southern parts of that state. It would relieve irrigation water demand and groundwater overdraft in the Central Valley and boost the water supply for Southern California. Through the latter it would allow for other Southwestern states—Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah—as well as Mexico to receive an increased share of the waters of the Colorado River.

Mason Dam is a dam near Baker City, Oregon, in Baker County, of the north-eastern part of the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ochoco Dam</span> Dam in Crook County, Oregon

Ochoco Dam is a dam in Central Oregon, 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Prineville in Crook County, Oregon, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agency Valley Dam</span> Dam in Malheur County, Oregon

Agency Valley Dam is a dam in Oregon, United States, built on the North Fork Malheur River in the eastern part of the state, immediately north of the small town of Beulah in Malheur County. The dam impounds the river to create Beulah Reservoir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Webster Reservoir</span> Reservoir in Rooks County, Kansas

Webster Reservoir is a reservoir in Rooks County, Kansas, United States. Built and managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, it is used for flood control, irrigation, and recreation. Webster State Park is located on its shore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soldier Creek Dam</span> Dam in Utah, United States

Soldier Creek Dam is an earthen dam on the Strawberry River, located within the Uinta National Forest in southern Wasatch County, Utah, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Platoro Dam</span> Dam in Conejos County, Colorado

Platoro Dam is a dam in Conejos County, Colorado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle Rio Grande Project</span>

The Middle Rio Grande Project manages water in the Albuquerque Basin of New Mexico, United States. It includes major upgrades and extensions to the irrigation facilities built by the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and modifications to the channel of the Rio Grande to control sedimentation and flooding. The bulk of the work was done by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and the United States Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s, but construction continued into the 1970s and maintenance is ongoing. The project is complementary to the San Juan–Chama Project, which transfers water from the San Juan River in the Colorado River Basin to the Rio Grande. Although distribution of water from the two projects is handled through separate allotments and contracts, there is some sharing of facilities including the river itself. The ecological impact on the river and the riparian zone was the subject of extended litigation after a group of environmentalists filed Rio Grande Silvery Minnow v. Bureau of Reclamation in 1999.

References

  1. "Thief Valley Reservoir". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved Jan 16, 2021.
  2. "Dam details - Thief Valley Dam - Bureau of Reclamation". Archived from the original on 2012-09-26. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  3. The United Press. Builder of Grand Coulee To Retire and Live Near It. The New York Times , September 12, 1950.