Barton County Club Dam

About Barton County Club Dam

The primary purpose of Barton County Club Dam is recreation. The dam creates a reservoir used for recreational activities such as fishing, boating, and swimming. The dam is owned by Barton County Golf Club. It impounds the Little Cheyenne Creek-tr near Saxman.

The dam stands 39 feet tall and stretches 1,690 feet across, creates a reservoir covering 56 acres, has a maximum storage capacity of 800 acre-feet, and collects water from a drainage area of 0 square miles. Completed in 1922, the structure is over a century old.

This dam carries a high hazard potential classification, which means that a failure or uncontrolled release of water would likely cause loss of human life. This classification reflects the consequences of failure, not the likelihood — it indicates that people live or work in the area downstream. An emergency action plan is in place for this dam. The most recent inspection on record was 04/09/2012. That was 13 years ago — unusually long for a high-hazard dam, which typically requires more frequent inspections.

At 39 feet, this dam is taller than 86% of dams nationwide.

Living Downstream

If you live or work downstream of this dam, consider taking these steps: learn your local evacuation routes, check whether your county emergency management office has a dam failure inundation map, and sign up for local emergency alerts. The Kansas dam safety program can provide more specific information about emergency planning for this structure.

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