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Teton Basin Project
State: Idaho
Region: Pacific Northwest
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Teton Basin Project History (78)
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General
Teton Dam, after being basically completed in November 1975, failed on June 5, 1976, and was completely inoperative after that date. The Lower Teton Division of the Teton Basin Project was authorized for the purpose of storing water of the Teton River in eastern Idaho. Storage space would provide for supplemental and primary irrigation water, power production, flood control, and enhancement of fish and wildlife and recreation. Major features of the first phase of the Lower Division included Teton Dam and Reservoir, Teton Power and Pumping Plant, a switchyard, Fremont discharge and pump canal, Enterprise-East Teton feeder pipeline and canal, and 27 water replacement wells.
History
Shortages of irrigation water occur frequently in the Henrys Fork Valley. During a series of dry years such as occurred in the 12-year period from 1931 through 1942, shortages occurred in each of the 12 years in the Ashton area and in 10 of the 12 years in the St. Anthony-Rexburg area. The Teton River is subject to flooding caused by ice jams in the early spring even though the discharge is quite low at that time. These ice jams occur frequently and occasionally raise the water surface elevation to flood heights. Channel capacity in the lower reaches of the Teton River is about 2,000 cubic feet per second and general inundation occurs at 4,000 cubic feet per second. The maximum flood of record occurred on February 11 and 12, 1962, when unseasonably warm weather and rain rapidly melted snowpacks on the valley floor and foothills, and ice-jammed channels raised the peak flow to 7,000 cubic feet per second at the St. Anthony gage. Much of Sugar City and Rexburg and the lands between these towns were inundated. The previous flood of record was in 1893, with a peak discharge of 5,830 cubic feet per second. Floods in 1894 and 1918 are believed to have been larger than the 1893 flood, but no estimates were made of peak discharges.
Construction
Construction of Teton Dam began in February 1972 and was basically completed in November 1975. At the time of dam failure on June 5, 1976, the two scheduled electrical generating units had been installed and were almost ready for testing. The pump units also were installed but were not ready for operation. First phase construction of the Fremont discharge and pump canal and the Enterprise-East Teton feeder pipeline and canal was partially completed. On June 5, 1976, the Teton Dam structure failed and was rendered completely inoperative. Reservoir elevation at the time of failure was 5,301.7 feet; the reservoir was filling at about 3 feet per day. At full reservoir capacity of 288,250 acre-feet, the water surface elevation would have been 5,320.0 feet. The failure of Teton Dam resulted in the loss of 11 lives and millions of dollars in property damage. The Bureau of Reclamation had been issued a permit from the Idaho Department of Water Resources for the development of groundwater as a part of the Teton Basin Project. Five of the wells had been developed at the time of dam failure. These five wells, with a total capacity of 80.88 cubic feet per second, are being used by the Fremont-Madison Irrigation District for irrigation of lands within their service area. The loss of wildlife habitat associated with the construction of Teton Dam and Ririe Dam led to the establishment of the Tex Creek Wildlife Management Area. In 1976 and 1977, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation purchased 11,000 acres of critical big game winter range in the Tex Creek area just east of Idaho Falls, Idaho. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game eventually assumed additional critical acreages. Also, a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Land Management resulted in the inclusion of 9,600 additional acres of land, and today, the Tex Creek Wildlife Management Area encompasses more than 28,700 acres. The entire area is managed for wildlife, with emphasis on big game habitat. At a House subcommittee hearing on August 5, 1976, Congressman Leo J. Ryan, of California, described the Teton Dam failure as `one of the most colossal and dramatic failures in our national history.`(1) The dam`s collapse was the first in the Bureau of Reclamation`s nearly seventy-five year history. Eleven lives were attributed to the tragedy.(2) The dam failure cost millions of dollars in damages, and led to increased attention placed on dam safety by Reclamation and other Federal dam building agencies. The Teton Basin Project was located in eastern Idaho. Teton Dam lay in Fremont County, and was intended to serve agricultural lands of the Fremont-Madison Irrigation District, in Fremont and Madison Counties. The dam sat on the Teton River, a tributary of the Henrys Fork of the Snake River. Newdale, Idaho, lies three miles southwest of the Teton Dam site. The first phase of the Teton Basin Project consisted of Teton Dam and Reservoir, Teton Power and Pumping Plant, a switchyard, the Fremont Discharge and Pump Canal, Enterprise-East Teton Feeder Pipeline and Canal, and twenty-seven water replacement wells. Reclamation planned another phase to serve the Rexburg Bench and other nearby areas.(3) Two Native American groups inhabited eastern Idaho prior to immigration by Europeans, in the nineteenth century. The Bannocks, a Northern Paiute speaking people, migrated from Oregon to the area of the Snake River plains. They differed from other Northern Paiutes in their acquisition of horses and organized buffalo hunts. The Bannocks co-existed peacefully in Idaho with area Northern Shoshone. The region`s native grasses supported buffalo, hunted by both Native American groups, in the upper Snake River plains until about 1840. Fish also contributed largely to both groups` subsistence.(4) In the 1850s, Mormon settlers established the Fort Lemhi mission in Idaho. By the end of the decade, escalating conflicts with the Bannocks turned violent. In 1857-58, these clashes coincided with a U.S. military expedition to Utah. Both situations convinced Brigham Young, Utah`s territorial Governor and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon Church), to recall the settlers to Utah. Mormon settlers returned to southern Idaho in the 1860s. The lure of gold soon brought miners to the Sawtooth Mountains in force, increasing the area tensions.(5) The Bannock and the various groups of the Shoshone found themselves placed on reservations starting in the late 1860s. The Federal government originally set up the Fort Hall Reservation in 1867, for the Boise and Bruneau Shoshone, and introduced the Bannock and other Shoshones to the reservation after the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868. The government established the Lemhi Reservation in 1875, for the Lemhi and the Sheepeater Shoshone, but shut it down in 1907, and then also moved its residents to Fort Hall. The swelling of the white population increased friction between the newcomers and the native inhabitants, and the reservation system did not prevent conflicts. One such conflict, the Bannock War of 1878, started in Idaho, but moved west and ended with the Northern Paiute in Oregon. Disputes between white miners and Sheepeater Shoshones erupted in the Sheepeater War of 1878-79. Both conflicts ended the same as other confrontations between Native Americans and whites in the American West, in favor of the latter.(6) Studies of the Teton River Basin for water storage and usage started before 1930. In 1932 and 1935, studies of possible dam sites concentrated on the upper Teton River Basin in Teton County. Several years later, Reclamation and the Army Corps of Engineers conducted investigations of a dam site in the lower Teton Basin, in Fremont County. In 1961, Reclamation designated the selected dam site in the upper basin, known as the Driggs site, the Upper Teton Project, and the Fremont site the Lower Teton Project. Revisions in 1961, named the entire Teton River Basin the Teton Basin Project, with the Upper and Lower Teton Divisions. Reclamation released the reconnaissance report on the Teton Project in October 1961.(7) In Cadillac Desert, Marc Reisner asserted that Teton`s authorization and construction came rapidly after decades of preliminary investigations, or as he put it, the `pupa stage.` Reisner credited the push for the Teton Basin Project to Willis Walker, President of the Fremont-Madison Irrigation District, part of the Minidoka Project. Walker argued that during drought conditions the existing water would not support crops through the entire season. Reisner contended existing irrigation provided plenty of water. According to Reisner, the Teton Basin Project went forward because the entire Idaho Congressional delegation supported it and `the closest thing to opposition was indifference.`(8) Congress authorized construction of the Lower Teton Division of the Teton Basin Project on September 7, 1964 (78 Stat. 925). The Lower Division included the Fremont dam site, a powerplant, a pumping plant, distribution facilities, and ground water wells to furnish replacement water during dry years.(9) The Definite Plan Report of 1969, covered the first phase of the Teton Basin Project which consisted of Teton Dam (renamed from Fremont Dam), Reservoir, and Power and Pumping Plant. Reclamation intended the first phase of the Project to accomplish: 1. Supply of supplemental water to 111,210 acres of irrigated land under the existing private Canyon Creek, Enterprise, and East Teton canal systems. 2. Production of hydroelectricity. 3. Provision for recreation at the reservoir. 4. Mitigation of project-caused losses of fish and wildlife. 5. Control of floods by the forecast operation of joint use space in the reservoir.(10) The second phase of the Project would serve lands on the Rexburg Bench and other nearby areas under investigation. The authorizing act prohibited construction of facilities for the Rexburg Bench area until the Secretary of the Interior submitted a feasibility report, on the next phase, to the President and Congress. Reclamation entered into a repayment contract with the Fremont-Madison Irrigation District on June 27, 1969, for the estimated $48,490,000 cost. Owners of the East Teton, Canyon Creek, and Enterprise Canals would have to enlarge the canals and upgrade siphons at their own expense, to accommodate increased flows.(11) Preliminary studies indicated the Project`s water supply would need augmentation from the deep basaltic aquifer under the Snake River flood plains. The studies specified the pumping must not adversely affect the shallow aquifer used for sub-irrigation on the flood plain and the Egin Bench, and for supporting the ponds and marshes of the migratory bird flyway.(12) Reclamation`s started the pilot grouting program at Teton Dam in August 1969, to provide data for the final design and specifications. Before construction of the dam could begin, a group of environmental organizations banded together and filed a complaint in Idaho District Court on September 27, 1971, (Trout Unlimited v. Morton, see Table. I) to prevent construction of the dam. The plaintiffs amended the complaint in October 1971, citing violations of several unspecified laws. They also filed several motions for injunctions against construction in 1971 and 1972, but the Court denied all of them. The plaintiffs amended their original complaint a second time in May 1972, alleging violations of numerous laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The Idaho District Court dismissed the second amended complaint in September 1972.(13) The actual trial of Trout Unlimited v. Morton went from June 25 to July 2, 1973. On January 24, 1974, the Court found Reclamation`s final impact statement complied with the NEPA, and on February 13, denied the plaintiffs` injunction. On February 20, the plaintiffs moved for an injunction pending appeal in Idaho District Court. On March 20, the Court denied that motion as well. The plaintiffs filed the same motion with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. On December 23, 1974, the Ninth Circuit Court filed an opinion affirming the District Court`s dismissal of the case, effectively ending the lawsuit.(14) As Trout Unlimited v. Morton went through the courts, the Teton Basin Project moved forward under Project Construction Engineer Robert Robison. Reclamation awarded the contract for Teton Dam and Power and Pumping Plant to Morrison-Knudsen Company, Inc., and the contractor received the notice to proceed on December 14, 1971. Clearing of the job site started in February 1972, and Morrison-Knudsen started excavating the downstream portal of the river outlet works tunnel, which also served as the diversion tunnel, and the power and pumping plant the following month. The contractor started excavating the dam embankment site in the spring of 1972. Morrison-Knudsen essentially completed the powerplant excavation in November 1972.(15) Irrigation facilities for the Rexburg Bench area were not yet authorized, but they still influenced construction on the first phase of the Teton Basin Project. Changes in the anticipated irrigation needs of the Rexburg Bench resulted in delayed construction of the Fremont Discharge and Pump Canal beyond Canyon Creek Canal.(16) Morrison-Knudsen finished excavating the left abutment foundation key trench in January 1973. The contractor completed the river outlet works in June 1973, and diverted the river on June 8, 1973. In July 1973, the slow rate of the embankment excavation`s progress hampered the embankment placement, already underway. Morrison-Knudsen started placing embankment material in the cutoff trench in October 1973.(17) A labor strike of all union personnel stopped work on Teton Dam on June 1, 1974. The strike lasted for one month, ending July 1. Morrison-Knudsen started concrete work on the spillway in the summer of 1974. Wilbur Peterson and Sons started clearing the Teton Reservoir site in October 1974. Reclamation awarded Wismer and Becker the $3,825,849 contract for completion work on the Teton Power and Pumping Plant, and construction of the switchyard early in 1974. The contractor finished the power and pumping plant in fall of 1974.(18) Severe winter weather halted work on Teton Dam in the early months of 1975. The concrete and embankment operations resumed in April. Rain stopped embankment placement from June 18 to June 24, 1975. On June 27, 1975, Reclamation sent a letter of substantial completion to the contractor, setting June 21, 1975 as the completion date for the dam. Morrison-Knudsen finished all concrete placement in October 1975, except for one section of chute wall they left to complete after cleanup. Morrison-Knudsen suspended embankment operations on October 22, 1975, because of snow. During 1975, Reclamation awarded Gibbons and Reed Company the contract for the Fremont Discharge and Pump Canal and the Enterprise-East Teton Feeder Pipeline and Canal. The feeder pipeline was to transport water 3.4 miles from Teton Reservoir to the Enterprise and East Teton Canals. The pump canal was to transport water 2.3 miles to the Canyon Creek Canal.(19) Teton Reservoir began filling on October 3, 1975, and Teton Dam was essentially complete in November 1975. Generator installation started in January 1976. On March 23, 1976, the Teton Project office received permission to increase Teton Reservoir`s filling rate from one to two feet per day. Assembly of the spillway radial gates started in April 1976. On June 1, 1976, Teton Reservoir contained 234,259 acre-feet of water. On June 5, 1976, Teton Dam failed.(20) At the time of its failure, Teton Dam stood 305 feet high, with a crest length of 3,100 feet and a base width of 1,700 feet. The dam was a zoned earthfill structure with a volume of approximately ten million cubic yards. The spillway was a three-gated chute in the right abutment. The main outlet works was a tunnel in the left abutment. The power and pumping plant was located at the base of the left abutment in front of the dam. The powerplant had two 10,000 kilowatt generators, with provisions for a third. The pumping plant had six units. Two units had a capacity of 7.35 cubic feet per second (cfs) each, and the remaining units had a capacity of 14.7 cfs each. The pumping plant was to deliver water to the Fremont Pump Canal.(21)
Plan
Teton Reservoir, formed by construction of Teton Dam, was to provide a supplemental water supply to 111,210 acres of land in the Fremont-Madison Irrigation District, local and downstream flood control benefits, water to operate a 16,000-kilowatt powerplant, and major recreation developments. Ground-water pumping in dry years would supplement the water supply when surface flows were fully appropriated. The reservoir also would have provided a full water supply to approximately 37,000 acres of land under the second phase of the project. The second phase would have required separate authorizing legislation. Teton Dam was located on the Teton River, a tributary of Henrys Fork of the Snake River in Fremont County of eastern Idaho. The dam, located 3 miles northeast of Newdale, Idaho, was a 305-foot-high zoned earthfill structure with a crest length of 3,100 feet including spillway, and a crest elevation of 5,332.0 feet. Total impoundment capacity was 288,250 acre-feet, with an active capacity of 200,000 acre-feet. A three-gated, chute-type spillway was located on the right abutment, along with an auxiliary outlet works and access shaft. The main river outlet was located in a tunnel in the left abutment. The power and pumping plant were located in a steel-framed building at the base of the left abutment of the dam. The powerplant consisted of two 10,000-kilowatt generators with provision to install a third unit in the future. Pumping plant facilities included six pumping units, two rated at 7.35 cubic feet per second and four at 14.7 cubic feet per second. The rated head was 323 feet. Water from the pumping plant was to be delivered into the Fremont Pump Canal.
Other
Electronic mail message from Jill Lawrence, Bureau of Reclamation, Pacific Northwest Regional Office, Boise ID, to author, 26 September 1995.
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