Ririe Reservoir

Ririe Dam
Blacktail Park, on the shore of the reservoir
Official name	Ririe Dam
Location	Upper Snake River Basin, Bonneville County, Idaho, USA
Coordinates	43°34′54″N 111°44′30″W
Construction began	January 1970
Opening date	February 1978
Operator(s)	Bonneville County Parks & Recreation Department
Dam and spillways
Impounds	Willow Creek
Height	77.11 meters
Length	326.14 meters
Width (base)	15 meters
Reservoir
Creates	Ririe Reservoir
Total capacity	124,000 megaliters
Surface area	6.1 km2
Normal elevation	5,125 ft (1,562 m)

The Ririe Reservoir is a reservoir located near Ririe, Idaho. It allows for irrigation, flood control, and provides recreational opportunities.

In 1972 the Ririe Dam, built on Willow Creek by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, was the site of the first practical application of steel fibrous shotcrete, which was used to build a tunnel adit. The dam's total capacity is more than 100,000 acre-feet of water. On October 14, 1976, the Corps of Engineers formally transferred control of the dam to the United States Bureau of Reclamation.

Ecology

The area surrounding the dam is hilly shrub-stepped and features the sagebrush and bunch grass typical of the area. The reservoir itself contains rainbow trout, kokanee salmon, cutthroat trout, smallmouth bass, and yellow perch.

Possibility of failure

If the Ririe Dam failed catastrophically, either from a natural disaster or a human initiated event, it would reach the first population center, the City of Ucon, in 108 minutes; it would reach the City of Idaho Falls, the major population center of Bonneville County, in 187 minutes. The Dam is not staffed 24 hours a day and therefore, it is anticipated that there would be at least a fifteen (15) minute lag between event initiation and the commencement of the notification to residents.