Echo Park Dam
Echo Park Dam was proposed in the 1950s by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as a central feature of the Colorado River Storage Project. Situated on the Green River, a major tributary of the Colorado River, the dam was proposed for the Echo Park district of Dinosaur National Monument, flooding much of the Green and Yampa river valleys in the monument. The dam was bitterly opposed by preservationists, who saw the encroachment of a dam into an existing national park as another Hetch Hetchy, to be opposed as an appropriation of protected lands for development purposes. The Echo Park project was abandoned in favor of Glen Canyon Dam on the main stem of the Colorado, in lands that were not at that time protected. This was eventually regarded as a strategic mistake by conservation organizations.
| Echo Park Dam | |
|---|---|
Locations of the proposed dams and reservoirs | |
Location of the proposed Echo Park Dam | |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Northwestern Colorado |
| Coordinates | 40°32′43.45″N 109°00′30.35″W |
| Status | Unbuilt |
| Owner(s) | U.S. Bureau of Reclamation |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Concrete thick arch |
| Impounds | Green River |
| Height | 529 ft (161 m) |
| Reservoir | |
| Total capacity | 6,400,000 acre-feet (7.9 km3) |
| Normal elevation | 5,500 ft (1,700 m) |
| Power Station | |
| Installed capacity | 200 MW |