Richland, OR

Location/Amenities

Brownlee Reservoir is located on the Snake River in and is the boarder for Idaho and Oregon. One thing that is unique about this is it allows anglers with either an Idaho fishing license or an Oregon fishing license to fish here. This is a great thing for a lot of people because they don't have to buy an out of state fishing license which cost over a $100 for in both Idaho and Oregon. The can be some confusion about what areas you can fish in so I researched how each license for the states worked on Brownlee. Technically you can have an Oregon fishing license and go out on a float tube or out in the water on the Idaho side and vise versa and be legal. You just can't be standing on the opposite states shore or be anchored to it with your boat. The reservoir has a large amount of camping areas. It has five major camp grounds with full amenities such as RV dumps showers and bathrooms. There are three camp grounds on the Oregon side and two on the Idaho side. These campgrounds offer a lot of different things for the whole family including hiking trails for the more adventurous and large grass areas for the others who just want to hang out. If you don't want to stay in the campground the 58 mile stretch of the reservoir offers hundreds of other areas to camp on if you don't want to be close to your neighbors.

What Was Gained

Brownlee Reservoir has been a center point for many family’s recreations since its completion in 1957. The reservoir is very important to many peoples lives not only in our local areas but the water it holds back affects areas as far as the Oregon/Washington coast. The reservoir slows down flood water in the spring and provides irrigation water for the farms along the Snake River and Columbia. Brownlee holds back a great amount of water. The reservoir is nearly 300 feet deep and over 58 miles long and 1 mile wide. This allows for a great amount of water storage. They can fluctuate the reservoir at a very rapid rate to adjust for the amount of inflow that is coming in or the amount that needs to be going out. Brownlee reservoir was designed and constructed by Idaho Power and is a great source of power for their company.