Brownlee Dam

Brownlee Dam
View from northeast
Location in Idaho
Location in the United States
Official nameBrownlee Dam
CountryUnited States
LocationHells Canyon,
Baker Co., Oregon / Washington Co., Idaho
Coordinates44°50′10″N 116°54′00″W / 44.836°N 116.9°W / 44.836; -116.9
Construction began1955
Opening dateMay 9, 1958 (1958-05-09)
Operator(s)Idaho Power Company
Dam and spillways
ImpoundsSnake River
Height420 feet (128 m)
Reservoir
CreatesBrownlee Reservoir
Total capacity1,426,700 acre-feet (1.7598 km3)
Catchment area72,590 square miles (188,000 km2)
Surface area15,000 acres (61 km2)
Normal elevation2,070 feet (630 m)
Power Station
Installed capacity585.4 MW
Annual generation2,406.8 GWh

Brownlee Dam is a hydroelectric earth fill embankment dam in the western United States, on the Snake River along the Idaho-Oregon border (Washington County, Idaho in and Baker County in Oregon). In Hells Canyon at river mile 285, it impounds the Snake River in the 58-mile-long (93 km) Brownlee Reservoir.