The W.A.C. Bennett Dam and Williston Lake
On the Peace River, near Hudson's Hope, British Columbia, Canada
The W.A.C. Bennett Dam, named for a BC premier, was completed in 1968. It is an earth fill dam one and a quarter miles long and 600 feet high, weighing 100 million tons. It impounds the Peace River in Williston Lake, backing up its two tributaries, the Finlay and the Parsnip, into a reservoir 180 miles in length — British Columbia's largest. Just downstream is the Peace Canyon Dam.
The Peace River Project, comprising these two dams, was envisioned in the 1950's by Swedish industrialist Axel Wenner-Gren. To get the job done Premier Bennett took over the private power company and created the modern state-owned BC Hydro.
Next: Entrance Tunnel