From Washington to you
John Day Dam
John Day Dam · Klickitat County · Flood Control Act of 1950
Sixteen turbine units and a 110-foot lock sit on the Columbia at river mile 215, backing up Lake Umatilla.
John Day Dam spans the Columbia River at river mile 215 near Rufus, Oregon, with the Washington shore opposite. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Northwestern Division lists the dam as a Portland District storage project authorized for hydropower, navigation, and flood control under the 1950 Flood Control Act.
A Corps photo caption says the navigation lock has one of the highest lifts of any U.S. lock — 110 feet — and that the reservoir is Lake Umatilla. The dam has 16 turbine units.
John Day is one of the four lower Columbia dams in the Corps inland waterway, with Bonneville, The Dalles, and McNary. The sources below are U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pages.
- Geography & Geology
- History
Sources (2)
government · Tier S
U.S. Army Corps of EngineersJohn Day Dam and Lake Umatilla
government · Tier S
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland DistrictJohn Day Dam
Last reviewed: September 21, 2026
Keep wandering
same arc
Bonneville DamThe first federal lock and dam on the Columbia and Snake spans the river between Oregon and Washington at river mile 146.1.
same arc
Columbia River ChinookChinook are the largest Pacific salmon. NOAA lists several Columbia River populations as threatened or endangered, and they are primary prey for Southern Resident killer whales.
same arc
Ice Harbor DamThe first of four Lower Snake dams sits at river mile 9.7 near Pasco and backs up 32-mile Lake Sacajawea.
same arc
McNary DamThe Corps places this Columbia River dam at Umatilla, Washington, river mile 292, with a 64-mile reservoir that reaches Hanford.
same arc
The Dalles DamA Columbia River dam at river mile 192, completed in 1957, with the pin on the Washington shore of a project the Corps lists at The Dalles, Oregon.
nearby
Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge23,555 acres on both shores of the Columbia — three units in Washington — created after John Day Dam flooded the river.