Blue Mesa Dam
Blue Mesa Dam is a 390-foot-tall (120 m) zoned earthfill dam on the Gunnison River in Colorado. It creates Blue Mesa Reservoir, and is within Curecanti National Recreation Area just before the river enters the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The dam is upstream of the Morrow Point Dam. Blue Mesa Dam and reservoir are part of the Bureau of Reclamation's Wayne N. Aspinall Unit of the Colorado River Storage Project, which retains the waters of the Colorado River and its tributaries for agricultural and municipal use in the American Southwest. Although the dam does produce hydroelectric power, its primary purpose is water storage. State Highway 92 passes over the top of the dam. Blue Mesa Dam houses two turbine generators and produces an average of 264,329,000 kilowatt-hours each year.
| Blue Mesa Dam | |
|---|---|
Blue Mesa Dam | |
Location of Blue Mesa Dam in Colorado | |
| Location | Cimarron, Gunnison County, Colorado, USA |
| Coordinates | 38°27′12″N 107°20′04″W |
| Construction began | 1962 |
| Opening date | 1966 |
| Operator(s) | U.S. Bureau of Reclamation |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Zoned earthfill |
| Impounds | Gunnison River |
| Height | 390 feet (120 m) |
| Length | 785 feet (239 m) |
| Dam volume | 3,080,000 cu yd (2,350,000 m3) |
| Spillway type | Two radial gates feeding concrete-lined tunnels to a flip bucket and stilling basin |
| Spillway capacity | 34,000 cu ft/s (960 m3/s) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Blue Mesa Reservoir |
| Total capacity | 940,700 acre-feet (1.1603 km3) |
| Catchment area | 3,470 sq mi (9,000 km2) |
| Surface area | 9,180 acres (3,720 ha) |
| Power Station | |
| Hydraulic head | 332 ft (101 m) |
| Turbines | 2 x 43.2 MW Francis turbines |
| Installed capacity | 86.4 MW |
| Annual generation | 203,411,938 KWh |