Lower Goose Creek Reservoir is a lake located 4,734 feet (1,443 m) above sea level,[1] south of the town of Oakley in Cassia County, Idaho, United States.[4] Oakley Dam impounds the reservoir's primary inflow, Goose Creek. All of the creek's water is stored in the reservoir for irrigation.[2] Lower Goose Creek Reservoir covers an area of 1,006 acres (407.1 ha).[3]
| Lower Goose Creek Reservoir | |
|---|---|
  Lower Goose Creek Reservoir  Lower Goose Creek Reservoir | |
| Location | Cassia County, Idaho, US |
| Coordinates | 42°11′48″N 113°55′01″W / 42.19667°N 113.91694°W[1] |
| Type | Reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Goose Creek[2] |
| Primary outflows | Irrigation canals[2] |
| Built | 1915[2] |
| Surface area | 1,006 acres (407.1 ha)[3] |
| Surface elevation | 4,734 feet (1,443 m)[1] |
The original developers were confident another reservoir would be needed shortly after the first, and so named it the “lower” reservoir, but they had greatly overestimated the amount of water held in typical years.[5] No “upper” Goose Creek reservoir was ever created.
1984 incident
editIn 1984, after historic rain and snowfall throughout the reservoir’s drainage basin, it came very close to overtopping its dam after historic rain and snowfall. Farms, fields, and numerous buildings in the city of Burley lay in the old plain of Goose Creek, and so were at severe risk of flooding if the reservoir was breached. To provide a safe water outlet, hundreds of local volunteers and the Army Corps of Engineers dug a 17-mile long, 70-foot wide diversion channel across private property in 4 days. The possible flood and diversion efforts were covered by the national news program, The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour (now PBS NewsHour) and The Washington Post.[6][7][8][9]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Lower Goose Creek Reservoir". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. June 21, 1979. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
- ^ a b c d "Goose Creek Water Quality Monitoring Report" (PDF). Idaho Association of Soil Conservation Districts. March 2006. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 11, 2010. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
- ^ a b "2010 Waterbody Report for Lower Goose Creek Reservoir". United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
- ^ Idaho Road and Recreation Atlas (Map) (2nd ed.). 1:250,000. Benchmark Maps. 2010. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-929591-06-3. OCLC 567571371.
- ^ Hedberg, Kathleen (1993). A Flood Cannot Happen Here. Magic Valley Publishers, Burley, Idaho. pp.13-15
- ^ History Repeating: A flood happened here. Weekly Mailer, February 21, 2017.
- ^ 1984: The Oakley Miracle. Weekly Mailer. April 17, 2014.
- ^ Burley Reflects on Flood of 1984. Magicvalley.com. April 24, 2014.
- ^ Weather Eye on Dam, Idaho Town Makes Plans to Evacuate. Washington Post. May 21, 1984.
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