Ridgway Dam is an

earthen dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and ...

on the

Uncompahgre River The Uncompahgre River is a tributary of the Gunnison River, approximately 75 mi (121 km) long, in southwestern Colorado in the United States. Lake Como at 12,215 ft (3723m) in northern San Juan County, in the Uncompahgre National ...

which impounds

Ridgway Reservoir Ridgway Reservoir is a lake impounded by Ridgway Dam () on the Uncompahgre River north of the town of Ridgway in Ouray County, Colorado in the western United States. Ridgway Dam was built as part of the Dallas Creek Project. Construction began ...

, located about 6 miles (10 km) north of the town of Ridgway in

Ouray County, Colorado Ouray County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,874. The county seat is Ouray. Because of its rugged mountain topography, Ouray County is also known as the Switzerland of America. H ...

. The dam is high and long, with a capacity of of

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

. Ridgway Dam was built as part of the Dallas Creek Project. Construction began in 1978 and completed in 1987. The construction of the dam forced the re-routing of

U.S. Highway 550 U.S. Route 550 (US 550) is a spur of U.S. Highway 50 that runs from Bernalillo, New Mexico to Montrose, Colorado in the western United States. The section from Silverton to Ouray is frequently called the Million Dollar Highway.

to the east and the abandonment of the Ridgway Branch of the

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south from ...

Hydroelectric retrofitting

In 2014, work was completed on retrofitting the dam to add a

hydroelectric plant Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

. The dam's operator, Tri-County Water Conservancy District, installed two turbines and generators, an 8 kW system and a 7.2 MW system. The larger one is used in summer and the smaller one in winter. The electricity created is sold to the Tri-State Generation & Transmission Association and to the

City of Aspen Aspen is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 7,004 at the 2020 United States Census. Aspen is in a remote area of the Rocky M ...

. Construction of the new hydroelectric project cost approximately $18 million. In an average year, the two generators produce about 24,000 megawatt hours of electric power.

References

External links

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation - Dallas Creek Project
{{coord, 38.23688, -107.75865, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark Dams in Colorado Hydroelectric power plants in Colorado Buildings and structures in Ouray County, Colorado United States Bureau of Reclamation dams Dams completed in 1987 Energy infrastructure completed in 2014 Dams in the Colorado River basin

Hydroelectric retrofitting

See also

References

External links