The Lands in the Payette Division are located in the area two miles west of Star, Idaho, between the Boise and Payette Rivers and extending west to the Snake River. This area is divided into the first and second units.
The first unit (Notus) was completed in 1921 and is comprised of 6,881 acres. Water is obtained from drains south of the Boise River near Caldwell. From this point the water is carried in the Notus Canal to lands located on the north side of the Boise River near Notus. The first unit (Notus) also has 3,280 acre-feet of storage space in Lake Lowell.
Lands in the second unit are served by the Black Canyon Main Canal diverted from the Payette River at Black Canyon Dam. The gravity area of the second unit was completed in 1940 and is comprised of 28,000 acres. The Pump area, comprised of 25,200 acres, was completed in 1949, and is served by the 90-foot lift “C” Line Pumping Plant located on the Main Canal about 20 miles below the point of diversion.
Black Canyon Irrigation District serves irrigation water supply to approximately 6,900 acres in the first unit and 53,200 acres to the second unit. The Black Canyon Main Canal also supplies irrigation water to approximately 5,100 acres for the Emmett Irrigation District patrons.
Black Canyon Dam is located five miles northest of Emmett, Idaho, on the Payette River. The dam is a diversion type concrete structure, with a structural height of 183 feet.
Cascade Dam is located near the town of Cascade, Idaho on the North Fork of the Payette River. The dam is an earth and rock filled structure with active capacity of 653,000 acre-feet. Black Canyon's Irrigation District has 238,663 acre-feet of space in the Cascade Reservoir
Construction began on the first unit (Notus) canal in 1919. The completion of the first unit distribution system was in 1921. Responsibility for operation and maintenance of the irrigation facilities were assumed by the Black Canyon Irrigation District on February 1, 1922.
The next development was construction of Black Canyon Dam and Power plant, completed in 1924. Deadwood Dam was completed in 1931 and Cascade Dam in 1948. Construction of these projects was performed by the Bureau of Reclamation.
Work on the Black Canyon Main Canal was started in 1936 and was followed by completion of the distribution system for the gravity area of the second unit in 1940. The C-Line Pumping Plant and the distribution system for the pump area of the second unit were completed by 1949.
Following the construction of the second unit distribution system, the facilities were operated by the Bureau until January 1, 1955, when the responsibility was transferred to the Black Canyon Irrigation District. By this transfer the District assumed operating responsibility for all facilities of the Payette Division except the Reserved Works, the responsibility for which was retained by the Bureau. The Reserved Works includes Black Canyon Dam and Power plant, Cascade Dam and Reservoir and Deadwood Dam and Reservoir.