MORAN, Wyo. — The original log crib Jackson Lake Dam was constructed in 1906 to 1907, but failed just three years later in 1910.
According to Grand Teton National Park (GTNP), in 1916 an earthen dam replaced the log crib to raise the natural lake level by 39 feet, increasing the storage capacity from 300,000 acre feet to 790,000 acre feet. The increased water level flooded the surrounding forest; in 1935 Civilian Conservation Corps removed thousands of dead trees that had been drowned by the flood along Jackson Lake.
A year after the dam replacement, the channel was dredged downstream to further increase the reservoir capacity to 847,000 acre feet. Later, during the 1980s, engineers drained the reservoir and reinforced the dam to withstand a M7.5 earthquake.
Most recently, the Jackson Lake Dam has been at the center of a conversation on water management operations for the Upper Snake River Basin, where a reduction of water flow threatened ecology and fisheries below the Dam. Read more about the proposed water flow reduction and the agreement between the State of Wyoming and the Bureau of Reclamation.
