Opening date 1939 Impounds Henrys Fork Spillway type Ungated bathtub Opened 1939 Construction began 1937 | Type of dam Zoned earthfill dam Length 9,500 ft (2,900 m) Height 29 m Catchment area 1,248 km² Impound Henrys Fork | |
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Location Fremont County, Idaho, near Island Park, Idaho Operator United States Bureau of Reclamation Similar Henrys Fork, Harriman State Park, Grassy Lake Dam, Rocky Mountains, Minidoka Dam | ||
Island Park Dam is operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in Fremont County, Idaho. The dam lies in Targhee National Forest near Island Park. The zoned earthfill dam was built between 1937 and 1939 as part of the Minidoka Project, which provides water to irrigate farmland in Idaho's Snake River Plain.
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Map of Island Park Dam, Island Park, ID 83429, USA
The dam provides only water storage, impounding 135,000 acre feet (0.167 km3), which is distributed by the Cross Cut Canal to farms in Fremont and Madison counties in Idaho, and Teton County in Wyoming. The Island Park and Grassy Lake reservoirs were built as an alternative to construction of a larger project that would have flooded the Falls River area of Yellowstone National Park.
ClimateEdit
Island Park Dam, Idaho holds the record for the eighth-coldest temperature recorded in the United States (and the coldest temperature recorded in Idaho) at −60 °F (−51 °C).