The Bureau of Reclamation has announced that a $3.13 million construction contract to perform Safety of Dams modifications at Grassy Lake Dam has been completed. Grassy Lake Dam is located on Grassy Creek about 35 miles east of Ashton, Idaho. The contract was awarded to Edstrom Construction Inc. of Rexburg, Idaho, in April 2004. The contractor replaced a 557-foot section of the old buried box shaped spillway chute with a new open channel chute that also included installation of a new under drain system. Drains on the left and right abutment of the dam were also replaced.

The contract required two construction seasons to complete due to the remoteness of the site and inaccessibility from late October to mid-June due to snow. Some minor cleanup work at the site will be required next spring.

"The completion of the spillway will allow a reservoir restriction to be lifted that has been in place since 1999," said Larry Wolf, Reclamation Safety of Dams officer. "The restriction prevented the use of the spillway while corrective measures were being developed and implemented."

Reclamation plans to award a smaller contract next spring for a third drain that will extend across the downstream toe of the dam. This contract is expected to be completed early fall of 2006.

Grassy Lake Dam is a 118-foot-high dam constructed in 1939. It is owned by Reclamation and operated by Fremont-Madison Irrigation District.