Shoshone Dam, Wyoming, The

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Shoshone Dam, Wyoming, The

Description

THE SHOSHONE DAM, WYOMING. This dam is built in a narrow canyon of the Shoshone River, in northern Wyoming. There are many such dams in the Plateau States. Most of the rivers here either are almost dry in the summer, when the farmer needs water, or they flow in such deep canyons that it is impossible to get the water up to the farming land. Dams help by holding back the spring flood waters in big lakes and bringing up the level of these lakes to nearly the height of the farming land. Then the farmers can easily pump the water into canals and let it onto the fields in the summer to water their crops. The Shoshone River flows in a deep, narrow canyon, 300 or more feet below the farming land. By comparing the height of the dam in this picture with the power house, you can get an idea of its height. It is 328 feet high and only 200 feet long at the top. The water from the lake that it forms is used to irrigate hundreds of farms in northern Wyoming, around Lovell. Alfalfa, sugar beets, hay, potatoes, and grains are raised on these irrigated farms.