The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1949-07-14
ARMY ENGINEERS DISCUSS
POSSIBILITIES OF LIBBY DAM

Agricultural lands in the broad, flat
valley extending from Boomers Fer
~, Idaho, to Kootenai Lake, British
Columbia. Some $4,000 acres of
these valley lands are partially pro-
tected by leVeeS. Only by the most
strenuous and costly emergency
measures have these levees been
preserved in many years and Oc-
casionally, as in 1888 and 1913,
many or nearly all of them fail to
hold the annual spring flood. These
floods repeatedly cause millions of
dollars in damage, and are a re-
curing threat to lives. The average
annual damage through the years
has amounted to nearly a million
dollars.
Along the Kootenai the town of
Boomers Ferry contains the greatest
concentration of population and
property values affected by the
floods. Because a major storage
project for flood control, such as
Libby Dam, will require many years
to complete, project for the i'm
mediate protection of the town has
been recommended. 1t would con-
Sist of additions to the present levee
system around the town, adequate
to withstand the greatest known
flood.
The Libby. Dam. also recon-
mended by tie Corps of Engineers,
would relieve permanently the in
tolerable flood Situation in the Koo-
tenai- Valley, both in the United |
States and Canada. It would also |
be an essential element in the sys-
tenn of reservoirs by which floods |
of the Columbia itself would be |
controlled. The 4,250,000 acre-feet |
of water stored during the spring
flood to reduce the flood crest |
would be retained through the sum-
mer when normal stream flow is
adequate for power needs. AS the |
water would be released gradually Il
during the winter, the empty reser-
Voir would be available for use at II
the time of the next spring flood. II
The water released in winter would II
maintain the nominal prime power
of the project at the site at $4,000 II
kilowatts just at the time of year
when power is most needed. With L
the firming effect of this storage on
power at downstream plants, the
total system prime power added by
this project to the recommended
system in the United States would
exceed a million kiloWattS The
$4,000 kilowatts of nominal prime
power added by this storage oper-
ating through 345 feet of fall at
the five existing plants in Canada
has not been included in the fig
Ires above.
Libby Dam site is about IL miles
upstream from the city of Libby,
Montana, where the Kootenai flows
n a deep, rock-walled canyon that
furnishes excellent bedrock for
foundations and abutments. The
lam is designed as a concrete struc
ure of the general type used at
Grand Coulee. It would be abou,
100 feet high and 1900 feet long
It the top. The powerhouse, with
pace for ten 0-kilowatt units.
would be located at left, or south,
ide Of the river just below the
lam. Only six units could be used
o advantage until additional stor-
ge has been developed upstream
n Canada. The output of this
'owerhouse, when all 10 units are
n, would be about the same as that
low existing in the west power
Iouse at Grand Coulee.
The reservoir, with normal pool "a
levation 2,440 feet above sea level.
1ould extend to Warnder, B. c. IT
1ould require relocation of both
ne Great Northern Railway main