Ice Harbor Lock and Dam is a

hydroelectric 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 ...

, concrete gravity run-of-the-river

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

in the

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

United States. On the lower

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 ...

in southeastern Washington, it bridges Walla Walla and Franklin counties. Located northeast of

Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

and 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. Construction began in June 1955; the main structure and three generators were completed in 1961, 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 in length.

Dam system

Built and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Ice Harbor Dam is part of the Columbia River Basin system of dams.

Visitor center

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 Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the Fish migration#Classification, anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or Columbia River redband trout (''O. m. gairdneri'', also called redband steelhead). Steelhead are native to cold-wa ...

, and shad. Due to security, visitors must pass through the security gate to gain access.

Surrounding water bodies

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 The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

just southeast of Pasco, runs downstream from the base of the dam. ; Navigation lock * Single-lift * wide * long

Climate

The record for the highest temperature in Washington state, at , was tied at Ice Harbor Dam on August 5, 1961. The record, which was shared with Wahluke ( in 1928), was eventually surpassed on June 29, 2021, when

Hanford Hanford may refer to: Places *Hanford (constituency), a constituency in Tuen Mun, People's Republic of China *Hanford, Dorset, a village and parish in England *Hanford, Staffordshire, England *Hanford, California, United States *Hanford, Iowa, ...

reached .

Northwest Infrastructure Proposal

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 Lower Granite Lock and Dam is a concrete gravity Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity, run-of-the-river dam in southeastern Washington (state), Washington in the United States. On the lower Snake River, it bridges Whitman County, Washington, Whitman ...

, 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 The Nez Perce (; Exonym and endonym, autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning 'we, the people') are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who still live on a fraction of the lands on the southeastern Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwes ...

, in a proposed ''Northwest State and Tribal Fish and Wildlife Council", in support of the plan. The

Bonneville Power Administration The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is an American federal agency operating in the Pacific Northwest. BPA was created by an act of United States Congress, Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Bonneville Dam located on the Col ...

advocates for keeping the dams even though the power from the four dams are considered surplus. 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. Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Senator Patty Murray are in opposition stating that any proposal needs a "science-based," "community-driven" approach. 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 Cathy Anne McMorris Rodgers (born May 22, 1969) is an American politician who served from 2005 to 2025 as the United States representative for , which encompasses the eastern third of the state and includes Spokane, the state's second-largest cit ...

, and Jaime Herrera Beutler, all from Washington, Cliff Bentz of Oregon, Russ Fulcher of Idaho, and

Matt Rosendale Matthew Martin Rosendale Sr. (born July 7, 1960) is an American politician and former real estate developer who represented Montana in the United States House of Representatives from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Republican Party, Rosendale ser ...

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. 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.

References

External links

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Ice Harbor Lock and Dam

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Ice Harbor Visitor Center.

{{Snake River Dams Dams in Washington (state) Buildings and structures in Franklin County, Washington Hydroelectric power plants in Washington (state) Buildings and structures in Walla Walla County, Washington United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Dams completed in 1962 Energy infrastructure completed in 1962 Dams on the Snake River Gravity dams