| Ice Harbor Dam | |
| Dam Crosses: | Snake River |
| Res Name: | Lake Sacajawea |
| Country: | United States |
| Location: | Franklin and Walla Walla counties, Washington |
| Location Map: | USA#Washington |
| Location Map Caption: | Location in the United States##Location in Washington |
| Dam Type: | Concrete gravity |
| Res Elevation: | AMSL |
| Owner: | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers |
| Dam Height: | 100feet |
| Construction Began: | June 1955 |
| Opening: | [1] |
| Res Capacity Total: | 249000acre feet[2] |
| Res Surface: | 8375acres |
| Plant Turbines: | 3 x 90 MW units; 3 x 111 MW units[3] |
| Plant Capacity: | 603 MW 693 MW (max) |
| Plant Type: | R |
| Spillway Type: | Service, gate-controlled |
| Coordinates: | 46.25°N -118.88°W |
Ice Harbor Lock and Dam is a hydroelectric, concrete gravity run-of-the-river dam in the northwest United States. On the lower Snake River in southeastern Washington, it bridges Walla Walla and Franklin counties.[4] Located 8miles northeast of Burbank and 12miles east of Pasco, river mile 9.7, the dam's name comes from a tiny bay in the river where boats once tied up to wait for upstream ice-jams to break up.[5]
Construction began in June 1955; the main structure and three generators were completed in 1961,[6] with an additional three generators finished in 1976. Generating capacity is 603 megawatts, with an overload capacity of 693 MW. The spillway has ten gates and is 590feet in length.
Built and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Ice Harbor Dam is part of the Columbia River Basin system of dams.
Inside the dam on the south side of the river is a large visitor center that has been recently updated to include a new film "The Snake - River of Life" and a new modern interactive touch screen kiosk with information on the dam and recreational opportunities in the area. The visitor center also has a fish ladder viewing room which offers an excellent view of migrating salmon, steelhead, and shad. Due to security, visitors must pass through the security gate to gain access.
Lake Sacajawea, named for Sacajawea, is formed behind the dam. The lake stretches to the base of Lower Monumental Dam, upstream. The Wallula Channel, formed from the backup of Snake River entering the Columbia River just southeast of Pasco, runs 10miles downstream from the base of the dam.
The record for the highest temperature in Washington state, at 118°F, was tied at Ice Harbor Dam on August 5, 1961.[7] The record, which was shared with Wahluke (118°F in 1928), was eventually surpassed on June 29, 2021, when Hanford reached 120°F.
Since 2019 Representative Mike Simpson (R), representing central and eastern Idaho, has been working on and presenting the $33 billion Columbia Basin Fund, as a way to restore the endangered Columbia-Snake basin salmon, including the Snake River sockeye salmon, and steelhead. The plan was released in February 2021. The ultimate goal of the plan is to remove or breach (partial removal) four dams on the lower Snake River. This would involve the Ice Harbor, Lower Granite Dam, Little Goose Dam, and the Lower Monumental Dam beginning with the farthest inland or Lower Granite Dam. The fund would include creating alternate energy plans that would have to be implemented and finished first before any dam removal. The plan has brought together an extensive coalition of organizations, local, state, national and international, as well as the Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, and the Nez Perce Tribe, in a proposed Northwest State and Tribal Fish and Wildlife Council", in support of the plan.[8] [9] [10]
The Bonneville Power Administration advocates for keeping the dams even though the power from the four dams are considered surplus.[11] and others oppose as written. Opposition from 17 environmental groups is the proposed license extension to 35 years for the other dams in the Columbia Basin as well as a moratorium on salmon-related lawsuits.[12]
Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Senator Patty Murray are in opposition stating that any proposal needs a "science-based," "community-driven" approach.[13] The Whitehouse, through the White House Council on Environmental Quality, released two reports that looks at the possibility of dam removal. U.S. Representatives. Dan Newhouse, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Jaime Herrera Beutler, all from Washington, Cliff Bentz of Oregon, Russ Fulcher of Idaho, and Matt Rosendale of Montana, referred to the report as biased. More than $17 billion has been spent on the recovery of the fish since they were classified as endangered species in 1991 but the efforts to reach sustainable levels has been called a failure.[14]
An association of river commercial groups commissioned a study concluded that dam removal would jeopardize already fragile local and regional economies and that the needed train and trucking increase would require up to $2 billion in road and rail improvements.[15]