Pelton Dam

The Lake Simtustus is a reservoir in Jefferson County in the U.S. state of Oregon, 11 km north-west of Madras. The Deschutes River is dammed by the built 1956-1958 Pelton Dam to Lake Simtustus. The 294 m wide concrete arch dam is 62 m high, 8 m at its base, and on top of the wall 2.4 m wide. Three generators generate hydropower electricity for more than 45,000 households.

The Lake Simtustus extends 11 km to the Round Butte Dam, a rockfill dam, and fills a narrow canyon, so that the lake is only 90 to 300 m wide. The reservoir is 257 ha and 15-47 m deep. In addition to the Deschutes River still flow several streams such as the Campbell Creek, the Seekseequa Creek and Willow Creek into the lake. He was named after Simtustus, an Indian Scout from Warm Springs, the 1867/68 fought alongside the U.S. Army against the Paiute and died in 1926 in the Warm Springs Reservation.

Representatives of the fishing industry wanted to prevent the construction of the dam. However, they could only reach that fish ladders were installed in the Pelton Dam and the operator Portland General Electric downstream a smaller dam had to build 4 km. This was completed in 1958 and is used to regulate the water level of the lower course so that there is sufficient water for the fish stocks. In 1982, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation installed on this wall a turbine that covered by water power, the power supply of 7,000 households.

The 4 -km-long fish ladders at Pelton Dam proved to be useless as the salmon and other fish probably came upstream to their spawning areas, young fish, however, not found due to the flow path downstream. The 1964 Round Butte Dam, completed complicated the migration of fish, in addition, so that Portland General Electric stopped the project in 1968.

But the water of the lake is rich in nutrients, so it provides an ideal habitat for fish and the lake is a popular angling for trout and other farmed fish. The lying at the bottom of the reservoir Pelton Park is a popular camping in Central Oregon and is visited by fishermen and water sports enthusiasts.