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First authorized by Congress in 1964, the Teton Dam has been a subject of controversy from the start. Environmental groups argued that the dam's reservoir would wipe out a 17-mile-long stretch of the Teton River, favored by trout fishermen, and cover some 2,700 acres of habitat for deer, elk and other wildlife. But the Bureau of Reclamation insisted that the benefits of flood control and irrigation water that the dam would provide would far outweigh any damage to the environment. In 1972, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey noted that the dam was in a seismically active area and might be endangered by earthquakes. Three years ago, in testimony before a federal court in a conservation group's suit to bar Teton's construction, Geologist Shirley Pytlak warned that the dam might leak because of extremely porous rock in the vicinity. In the wake of the disaster, Geologist Robert Curry, a professor at the University of Montana and an adviser to the Sierra Club, revealed that the 1972 earthquake hazard report by U.S.G.S. scientists had also mentioned that the terrain on one side of the dam site was softer than on the other, which meant that filling the reservoir would compact the earth more on the softer side. Said Curry: "This would cause a small rupture at the base of the dam, and when the bottom began to leak, the water would tear loose the basic earth structure, open a hole into which the rock covering would collapse and the whole dam would go. All this was predictable three years ago, and that is apparently what happened."
Water Surge. Dismayed Bureau of Reclamation engineers could not be that certain. "What we do know," said a spokesman, "is that the water surge started near the bank abutment on the right side of the dam. That may have been due to a leak through the grout [concrete barriers at the base and the sides of the dam], or it could have been due to a quirk in the local geology."
Whatever the investigations turn up, they will do little to ease the tragedy for thousands of farmers and townspeople. Even with help from Washington—and Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus says that "liability is clearly at the door of the Federal Government"—it will be years before the communities downstream from the ill-fated dam can completely recover from their losses. As the newly installed sign greeting arrivals at the Idaho Falls air terminal reads: "Tis sad."