Round Butte Dam

This photograph of the Round Butte Dam was originally published on June 11, 1965, as an illustration for an Oregon Journal article, “$62 Million Round Butte Dam on Mighty Deschutes Dedicated,” written by John McWilliams.  More than 10 million tons of earth-fill were used to create this 440-foot tall, 1,320-foot wide, and 1,570-foot thick at the base storage dam.  Three 1,000-kilowatt generators produce energy for customers of Portland General Electric (PGE).  The Round Butte Dam is the largest hydropower project located completely in Oregon, creating a reservoir that stretches eleven miles up the Metolius River, eight miles up the Deschutes River, and six miles up the Crooked River. According to PGE, the Round Butte Dam was constructed in order to firm up their power supply in response to the Bonneville Power Administration’s anticipated difficulties in providing firm power to private utilities beginning in 1962–1963. As was the case with PGE’s Pelton Dam, located just seven miles downriver, fishing interests viewed the construction of Round Butte Dam as a threat to the anadromous fish populations of the Deschutes River. Although fishing groups fought to keep the dam from being built, they were ultimately unsuccessful, finding limited success only in establishing requirements for PGE to maintain minimum river flows.