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Construction of Hugh Keenleyside Dam

A colour photograph showing a dam under construction. A paved road is in the foreground, with a lone fir tree in the middle.

Hugh Keenleyside Dam under construction, July 1966. Arrow Lakes Historical Society photograph 2014.026.585. Photographer: Ellis Anderson.

Construction of the Hugh Keenleyside Dam finished six months ahead of schedule. The dam was declared operational on October 10, 1968.

The dam towered 52m high, just upstream from Castlegar. It was initially built as a storage dam, in part to end the annual threat of flood damage in B.C., Washington, and Oregon, and in part to control stored water released to Americans for increased power generation at the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington and other power plants on the mid-Columbia River.

A birds-eye-view panoramic photograph of the dam under construction. The image shows the construction site, the dam, the water, and the mountains on the other side.

Hugh Keenleyside Dam continues to take shape. December 1967. Arrow Lakes Historical Society photograph 2018.027.9.2. Photographer: Wilf Hewat.

The Hugh Keenleyside Dam controls a drainage area of 3,650,000 hectares and holds back the seasonal snow melt from the Arrow Lakes. The release of the 8.8 billion cubic m (7.1 million acre-ft.) of live storage is controlled by four sluiceways and eight low-level ports.

A close-up photograph of the dam under construction, nearly complete. People and construction vehicles are on the dam.

Construction of the Hugh Keenleyside Dam nears completion, 1968. Arrow Lakes Historical Society photograph 2018.027.9.6. Photographer: Wilf Hewat.

After controversy in the early 1960s over the dam’s location between the log supply and a major mill owned by Celgar, BC Hydro redesigned the dam to allow for the movement of log booms and pleasure boats through the dam.

The Columbia Power Corporation designed a 185 MW hydroelectric powerplant in 2002, to make use of some treaty flows.

A colour photograph of a group of people rowing a canoe through the dam locks. Some logs sit in the water to the left of the canoe. Mountains can be seen through the open end of the lock gates.

Sinixt Canoe Journey in the Locks at Hugh Keenleyside Dam, 2022. Mike Graeme Photography.

Clearing the Land Opening Day