Deer Flat Upper Embankment (National ID # ID00276) is a dam in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States in southwestern

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. Located in the

Treasure Valley The Treasure Valley is a valley in the western United States, primarily in southwestern Idaho, where the Payette, Boise, Weiser, Malheur, and Owyhee rivers drain into the Snake River. It includes all the lowland areas from Vale in rural east ...

in Canyon County, it is directly southwest of

Nampa The Namibia Press Agency (NAMPA) is the national news agency of the Republic of Namibia. It was founded in 1987 under the name Namibia Press Association as a SWAPO partisan press agency, and resuscitated after independence under its current name ...

. The earthen dam was completed in 1908 by the Reclamation Service (now U.S. Bureau of Reclamation), with a height of and a crest length of . The Upper Embankment is the largest of a set of four dikes here impounding the water of the

Boise River The Boise River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. , accessed May 3, 2011 tributary of the Snake River in the Northwestern United States. It drains a rugged portion of the Sawtooth Range in so ...

in offstream storage. The other dams are: *Deer Flat Middle Dike (ID #ID00277), completed 1911, high, long *Deer Flat Lower Dike (ID #ID00278), completed 1908, high, long *Deer Flat East Dike (ID #ID82902), completed 1911, high, long The reservoir it creates, Lake Lowell, has a normal surface area of , and a maximum capacity of . Its surface elevation is approximately above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. The Boise Project was among the first undertaken by the Reclamation Service after its formation in 1902. Shortly before leaving office,

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Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

created a national bird refuge at Deer Flat Reservoir, now Lake Lowell, with an executive order on February 25, 1909. The refuge was one of 17 federal reclamation projects referenced in the order, each of which used manmade aquifers to provide safe havens for migratory birds. The effort to include the Canyon County site was spearheaded by James H. Lowell, the president of the local Payette-Boise Water Users Association. The "globally important" Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge for migratory fowl and other wildlife consists of two sections which contains open water, edge

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

grasslands A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur ...

and

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

and

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

habitats. The largest portion of the refuge consists of Lake Lowell and its environs. The second portion comprises the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...

islands located in non-contiguous localities along the river in Canyon, Owyhee, Payette, and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

counties (Idaho) and Malheur and

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counties (

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). The visitors' center on the northern Lake Lowell shoreline is the hub of activity for visitors and those volunteers who donate their time and services to

wildlife conservation Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...

projects.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Canyon County, Idaho Dams on the National Register of Historic Places in Idaho Historic American Engineering Record in Idaho Reservoirs in Idaho United States Bureau of Reclamation dams Dams completed in 1908 Lakes of Canyon County, Idaho Boise Project National Register of Historic Places in Canyon County, Idaho 1908 establishments in Idaho

See also

References

External links