Yellowtail Dam Sign 1 - 50 Years of Service: Benefits
The federal investment in construction Yellowtail has been recovered more than twice by the benefits of hydropower generation and flood control.
-Yellowtail Dam, Power Plant and Afterbay cost $87.5 million to build which equals $605.5 million in 2016.
-In 2015, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers computes $107.5 million in flood damages have been averted since Yellowtail was built.
-Yellowtail Power Plant has generated over 42 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity between 1966 and 2015. That energy would have a value of $1.2 billion of 2016 prices.
-The value of recreation benefits is significant, especially to the local economy, but is considered incidental to the construction cost.
Credit / Author:
BOR
Date created:
10/14/2020
Yellowtail Dam Sign 2 - 50 Years of Service: Construction
More than 469,000 hours of labor were needed to build Yellowtail Dam, Power Plant, and Afterbay Dam from 1961 to June of 1966. During that time, six injuries were reported.
Bernard J. "Bud" Schrader was the only fatality during the construction of Yellowtail Dam. An 18-year veteran of the Bureau of Reclamation, Bud rose from junior power plant operator to become the first Superintendent of Operations and Maintenance for the Yellowtail Project. On June 16, 1966, at age 44, he died in a construction related accident during the final stages of dam completion.
Credit / Author:
BoR
Date created:
10/14/2020
Yellowtail Dam Sign 3 - 50 Years of Service: Hydropower
Yellowtail is called a peaking power plant. Instead of generating a constant output of energy all day, it increases generation during hours of peak demand and decreses when power is available from other sources.
this cycle dramatically alters river flows immediately delow the power plant. The Afterbay Dam, however, serves to minimize fluctuations in the Bighorn River downstream.
Yellowtail generation is typically operated in optimization mode. This means that based on system demands, the most efficient units are generating power. If demand rises, or power outages occur, the system automatically adjusts the power output between untis to maintain maximum efficiency.
Credit / Author:
BoR
Date created:
10/14/2020
Yellowtail Dam Sign 4: First Down the Wild Bighorn
In the 19900s the lake before you was a swift and dangerous river. In 1825, Jim Bridger, a trapper, explorer, and mountian man, builta driftwood raft and set out to explore the waterway. Three days and fifty miles later he emerged unscathed at the mouth of the canyon-the first man on record to navigate the Bighorn. Later adventurers were not so lucky. Today the Bighorn is tame. The Yellowtail Dam has transformed foaming white water into the placid 71-mile-long Bighorn Lake. Visitors enjoy fishing, water skiing, and boating in the same rugged canyons explored by Bridger many years ago.
Credit / Author:
NPS
Date created:
10/14/2020
Last updated: August 22, 2017
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Contact Info
Mailing Address:
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area South District Visitor Center
20 US Hwy 14A
Lovell,
WY
82431
Phone:
307 548-5406
(307) 548-5406 is the South District in Lovell, WY.
(406) 666-9961 is the North District in Fort Smith, MT.