Governor Little visits Power County to celebrate ongoing American Falls Dam rehabilitation project
Sam Ross
AMERICAN FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – Governor Brad Little visited the American Falls Dam on Monday to celebrate the ongoing Spillway Rehabilitation Project, one of 90 projects across the state planned to modernize Idaho’s water infrastructure.
The Idaho Water Resource Board approved $56 million for water infrastructure repair projects across the state in 2023. Updates to the American Falls Dam include repairing aged components on spillways, fixing leaks in service gates, and replacing intake gates to the adjacent Idaho Power plant.
“We are making great progress as we strengthen the resiliency of our water system, which everybody knows is the lifeblood of the state of Idaho,” said Governor Little in his address on Monday. “This dam, which is one of the workhorses of the upper Snake [River] system, with 1.6 million acre feet of storage for farmers, ranchers, cities, industry, is critically important.”
The American Falls Dam and Reservoir are used primarily for irrigation of the over 62,000 acres of farmland served by the American Falls Reservoir District.
The Spillway Rehabilitation project is projected to cost $24 million, $12.5 million in funding will come from the Idaho Water Resource Board’s ARPA funds approved for infrastructure improvement, and the project is expected to be completed in fall 2032.