Impact of Reclamation’s Hydraulic Laboratory on Water Development

The paper covers the history of Reclamation’s hydraulic laboratory from its inception in 1930 at Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station, Fort Collins, Colorado to the present. Emphasis is placed on the laboratory’s historical role in developing new design concepts for hydraulic structures to meet Reclamation’s ever-increasing challenges over the past seventy years. The paper presents the design challenges associated with specific structures such as: Hoover Dam side channel spillway, Grand Coulee Dam spillway bucket, Hungry Horse Dam tunnel spillway, and more recently the aeration slot design developed for Reclamation’s tunnel spillways to prevent cavitation damage. During the 1950's and 1960's Reclamation’s hydraulic laboratory initiated an extensive research program to develop standard designs that eventually led to engineering monographs and manuals coauthored by hydraulic laboratory staff. The paper concludes with the hydraulic design challenges facing Reclamation in the next century. The water management issues associated with fish passage and water conservation as well as infrastructure security at numerous dams in the western U.S. are some of the hydraulic challenges in Reclamation’s future