Milner Dam, dam in Idaho, United States of America, United States of America
Milner Dam is an earth and rockfill structure that stretches across the Snake River in Idaho, made up of three sections that form a large body of water called Milner Lake. Today it is accompanied by a hydroelectric power plant located about 1.5 miles downstream with two large generators that convert flowing water into electricity.
Milner Dam was completed in 1905 as a project by local entrepreneurs and rancher Ira Burton Perrine, who wanted to bring water to desert land for farming. Safety concerns discovered in the 1980s led to the addition of a hydroelectric plant in the 1990s, which now serves the community alongside the original irrigation function.
Milner Dam has shaped how the local community and farms depend on controlled water for over a century. The structure shows how people reshaped their surroundings through practical engineering to grow crops and generate power.
The site sits in a quiet rural area between Jerome and Twin Falls counties surrounded by farmland and open fields. Visitors can walk along paths to view the structure and water flow from multiple angles, with terrain that is flat and easy to navigate.
During dry months, water below the dam can nearly disappear because so much is diverted for irrigation, revealing how much local farming relies on this system. This striking shift shows how one structure fundamentally altered the land and the lives of thousands who depend on it.
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