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Pick -Sloan Missouri Basin Program <br />Kortes Unit, Oregon Trail Division <br />Wyoming: Carbon County <br />Lower Missouri Region <br />Bureau of Reclamation <br />The Kortes Unit, consisting of Kortes Dam, Reservoir, <br />and Powerplant, is in central Wyoming in a narrow <br />gorge of the North Platte River 2 miles below Seminoe <br />Dam in the Kendrick Project, and about 60 miles <br />Kortes Dam and Powerplant <br />Rev. 9/81 <br />(From Project Data Book) <br />- o <br />C0L0 � HEW <br />"Ns <br />txl <br />CALIF <br />M11Ex_ _J <br />of Casper, Wyo. It was the first unit initiated <br />by the Bureau of Reclamation under the Missouri River <br />Basin Project. The 36,000- kilowatt powerplant generates <br />more than 140 million kilowatt -hours annually. <br />PLAN <br />Water released from Seminoe Dam to Pathfinder Reser- <br />voir passes through the Kortes turbines to generate <br />power, which is distributed by the Government -owned <br />interconnected transmission system to localities in the <br />intermountain and Great Plains areas. <br />The small reservoir storage at Kortes influenced plans for <br />plant operation. Maximum benefits are obtained when <br />the Kortes Reservoir remains full and the power releases <br />are coordinated with those from the Seminoe plant to <br />maintain a full reservoir. The Seminoe facilities operate <br />both plants with remote - control apparatus. <br />Kortes Dam <br />Kortes Dam is constructed in the 1,000 -foot gorge of the <br />Black Canyon on the North Platte River. The level of <br />water in Kortes Reservoir controls the tailwater elevation <br />of Seminoe Powerplant. The dam is constructed at the <br />optimum location to develop the most head between <br />Seminoe tailwater and Pathfinder high water surface <br />elevation. About 200 of the 300 feet available are used. <br />The concrete gravity structure has a maximum height <br />above foundation rock of 244 feet and contains 147,000 <br />cubic yards of concrete. <br />The 83 -acre Kortes Reservoir is confined to the narrow <br />canyon and provides storage for only 4,700 acre -feet of <br />water. Other principal features include a 50,000- cubic- <br />foot- per - second uncontrolled spillway through the right <br />abutment, a switchyard on the top of the dam, and <br />transmission taplines to the canyon rim. <br />1 <br />