Lookout Point & Dexter Dams on the Middle Fork of the Willamette River
Lookout Point Dam is at river mile 21.3 on the Middle Fork of the Willamette River, about 22 miles southeast of Eugene. Lookout Point Dam has three hydropower generating units capable of producing 50 megawatts each. Dexter Dam is located three miles downstream and is used to regulate power-generating water releases from Lookout Point. Dexter has one generator capable of producing 15 megawatts.
Carrying out the Reasonable and Prudent Alternative (RPA) from the 2008 Willamette Project Biological Opinion requires a suite of actions determined necessary to protect ESA-listed Upper Willamette River Spring Chinook salmon and Upper Willamette River Winter Steelhead ESUs. Key actions which apply for all of the project dams covered under the 2008 Opinion include:
- Meeting ramp rates and flow targets for the Willamette River mainstem and tributaries.
- Interim operations to improve conditions for fish passage, spawning, incubation and rearing are being conducted until permanent solutions can be developed and completed.
- Research Monitoring and Evaluation efforts to inform decision making for downstream fish passage, temperature control, and to analyze the effectiveness of actions which have already been undertaken.
In addition, RPA actions for Lookout Point and Dexter Dams include:
- Dexter adult collection facility rebuild scheduled to be complete and operating in 2016
- Lookout Point downstream fish passage scheduled to be completed by 2021
Lookout Point Dam
Dexter Dam
More information about this and other Willamette Valley Projects
