Black Canyon Diversion Dam facts for kids

Black Canyon Diversion Dam (National ID # ID00282) is a dam in Gem County, Idaho.

The concrete dam was originally completed in 1924, then re-constructed between 1951 and 1955, by the United States Bureau of Reclamation. Its structure has a height of 183 feet, and a length of 1902 feet at its crest. It impounds the Payette River for the diversion of water into the Black Canyon and North Side Main irrigation canals, and the generation of about 2 megawatts of hydroelectric power, part of the Bureau's larger Boise Project. The dam is owned and operated by the Bureau.

The riverine reservoir it creates, the Black Canyon Reservoir, has a normal water surface of 1.7 square miles, about twelve miles of shoreline, and an original maximum capacity of 44,700 acre-feet, reduced by siltation to about 31,200 acre-feet. Recreation includes boating and fishing. The installation of a third hydropower generating unit has been funded by Bonneville Power Administration for completion in 2013.