Dexter Reservoir (also known as Dexter Lake) is a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

in Lane County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. It is about southeast of Eugene on the

Middle Fork Willamette River The Middle Fork Willamette River is one of several forks that unite to form the Willamette River in the western part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is approximately long, draining an area of the Cascade Range southeast of Eugene, which is at th ...

, immediately downriver from Lookout Point Lake, another reservoir. The communities of

Dexter Dexter may refer to: People * Dexter (given name) * Dexter (surname) * Dexter (singer), Brazilian rapper Marcos Fernandes de Omena (born 1973) * Famous Dex, also known as Dexter, American rapper Dexter Tiewon Gore Jr. (born 1993) Places United ...

and Lowell are near the lake. Oregon Route 58 follows the lake's southern shore, while Pengra Road parallels the lake's northern shore as far east as Lowell. Dexter Dam, high, impounds up to of water in the reservoir. The powerhouse at the dam can generate 15,000

kilowatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named in honor of ...

of electricity. The lake and three adjacent state parks are used for water sports and other outdoor recreation.

History

The two reservoirs, Dexter and Lookout Point, were created in 1954 when the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

finished building the dams that contain them. Dexter exists partly to control water surges from the upstream lake during Lookout Point's production of

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

. Lookout reservoir water levels vary greatly, while the flow below Dexter Dam remains relatively steady. The Dexter and Lookout Point projects are among 13 that the Corps built in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...

Recreation

In addition to mitigating floods and generating electricity, Dexter Reservoir is used for recreation. Three state parks are located near the lake. Dexter State Recreation Site is a park with picnic tables, toilets, and a boat launch adjacent to Dexter Dam, about southeast of Eugene. Activities at or near the park include swimming, fishing, sailing, and other water sports. The University of Oregon Rowing Team has practiced continuously on the reservoir since 1967. Elijah Bristow State Park is an park that stretches for along the south bank of the river below Dexter Dam. Park amenities include picnic tables, restrooms, equestrian staging areas, horseshoe pits, a wildlife viewing platform, and a boat launch. The park has of trails through woods and meadows. Most of the trails are open to mountain bikers and equestrians as well as hikers. Lowell State Recreation Site is a waterfront park on the north side of Dexter Lake. Amenities include picnic tables, a boat launch, dock, playground, basketball court, and restrooms. Fishing, swimming, sailing, and waterskiing are among possible activities at this site. Dexter Lake supports populations of

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater fish, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern United States, eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada an ...

, and

smallmouth bass The smallmouth bass (''Micropterus dolomieu'') is a species of freshwater fish in the Centrarchidae, sunfish family (biology), family (Centrarchidae) of the order (biology), order Centrarchiformes. It is the type species of its genus ''Micropterus ...

. The lake also has large populations of northern pikeminnow. The City of Lowell encourages removal of this

rough fish Rough fish (or the slang trash fish or dirt fish) is a term used by some United States state agencies and anglers to describe fish that are less desirable to sport anglers within a defined region. The term usually refers to larger game fish speci ...

during a pikeminnow contest held each July.Sheehan, p. 131

References

Works cited

*Bannan, Jan (2002). ''Oregon State Parks: A Complete Recreation Guide'', 2nd ed. Seattle, Washington: The Mountaineers Books. . *Sheehan, Madelynne Diness (2005). Fishing in Oregon: The Complete Oregon Fishing Guide, 10th ed. Scappoose, Oregon: Flying Pencil Publications. . {{authority control Reservoirs in Oregon Lakes of Lane County, Oregon Tributaries of the Willamette River Protected areas of Lane County, Oregon Dams in Oregon United States Army Corps of Engineers dams 1954 establishments in Oregon

History

Recreation

See also

References

Works cited