American Falls Dam

The American Falls Reservoir is a reservoir of American Falls Dam on the Snake River in the southeast of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is located in the three counties Power County, Bingham County and Bannock County.

General

The first work on the dam began in 1925 and lasted until 1927. The former town American Falls, which was planned in the storage area had to be abandoned. 1976, work began on a new gravity dam, which was completed in 1978.

In the dam break of the upward Teton Dam on June 5, 1976, the American Falls Dam was drawn by the tidal wave hit. Supposedly let the engineers from the water before the flood came. This representation is, however, contradicted by others; the discharged water volumes remained almost constant for this information, recorded during several days after the Teton dam failure greatly increased inflows to the American Falls Reservoir were. The dam held firm until the flood was over.

The jurisdiction is governed by the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bingham County. The area of ​​the American Falls Reservoir is 226.6 km ² and has a shore line of 201 km. The water capacity is 2.06 km ³. In addition to the water supply, it is used for energy supply ( Idaho Power ) and used for flood protection. It is the largest reservoir in Idaho.

Activities

The American Falls Reservoir is used by many locals as a recreational area. The recreational activities are varied, such as: boating, canoeing, fishing, swimming, jet skiing, water skiing and windsurfing.

As a popular fishing destination, the lake provides many fish species. Most often, the rainbow trout occurs. Since 1981 3600 kg rainbow trout are exposed to supplement the fish population annually. In addition, a good catch for brown trout, Cutthroat Trout, sunfish, American perch, whitefish, catfish and catfish can be achieved.

Very popular, this region is also for bird watching as it is home to over 200 bird species.