Fish and Wildlife Dams in the United States

3,178Total

201High Hazard

231Significant

Fish and wildlife dams create habitat for aquatic species and support conservation goals. Many were built by state fish and game agencies or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to establish fishing lakes, waterfowl habitat, or breeding ponds for fish stocking programs.

Most are smaller structures in rural or protected areas, carrying low hazard classifications due to their remote locations.

Fish and Wildlife Dams by State

State	Count	High Hazard	Tallest (ft)
Alabama	750	17	70
Missouri	239	5	54
North Dakota	229	1	56
Minnesota	224	1	27
South Dakota	222	3	171
Colorado	116	17	295
Oklahoma	112	6	113
Illinois	107	6	121
Georgia	85	1	58
South Carolina	85	9	58
Wyoming	83	5	139
North Carolina	70	37	53
Iowa	63	0	37
Arizona	48	4	89
Maine	44	1	40
Virginia	44	2	45
Michigan	39	0	19
Arkansas	38	5	89
New York	38	0	29
Wisconsin	38	1	30
Montana	37	2	43
New Hampshire	37	1	49
Washington	36	9	84
Connecticut	35	3	28
Nevada	29	1	34
Delaware	28	19	25
Kansas	27	5	77
Louisiana	26	1	61
Oregon	26	2	146
Nebraska	24	0	55
Texas	22	4	59
Rhode Island	21	7	39
Pennsylvania	16	1	33
Tennessee	15	1	94
California	13	3	87
Indiana	12	3	68
Massachusetts	12	1	20
Mississippi	12	1	40
Vermont	12	0	23
Utah	11	2	177
Maryland	10	1	30
West Virginia	10	5	47
Florida	8	0	22
Alaska	7	2	15
Ohio	5	2	25
Idaho	4	1	88
New Mexico	4	2	150
New Jersey	3	0	12
Hawaii	1	1	110
Kentucky	1	0	44

Largest Fish and Wildlife Dams

#	Dam	State	Height (ft)	Hazard	Year
1	Mcphee Dam	Colorado	295	High	1983
2	Lemon Dam	Colorado	284	High	1963
3	Currant Creek Dam	Utah	177	High	1975
4	Deerfield Dam	South Dakota	171	High	1947
5	Vallecito Dam	Colorado	162	High	1941
6	Red Fleet Dam	Utah	161	High	1980
7	Nambe Falls Dam	New Mexico	150	High	1976
8	Ochoco Dam	Oregon	146	High	1920
9	Fontenelle Dam	Wyoming	139	High	1964
10	Buffalo Bill-diamond Creek Dike	Wyoming	136	High	1905
11	Devil`s Kitchen Dam	Illinois	121	High	1959
12	Elkhead Creek	Colorado	118	High	1979
13	Lake Elmer Thomas Dam	Oklahoma	113	High	1993
14	Puu Lua Reservoir	Hawaii	110	High	1925
15	Big Beaver	Colorado	102	High	1964
16	Nolichucky Dam	Tennessee	94	High	1913
17	Lake Monticello Dam	Arkansas	89	High	1993
18	Lynx Lake	Arizona	89	High	1962
19	Minidoka Dam	Idaho	88	High	1906
20	Little Grassy Dam	Illinois	88	High	1942
21	Nimbus Dam	California	87	High	1955
22	Chevelon Canyon	Arizona	84	Low	1966
23	Clear Creek Dam	Washington	84	High	1914
24	Mcmurry No. 4	Wyoming	78	High	2014
25	Pena Blanca	Arizona	78	High	1958
26	Lake Annella	Colorado	77	Low
27	Leavenworth State Lake Dam	Kansas	77	High	1994
28	Reeves No. 1	Wyoming	75	Low	1985
29	Inverness Dam	Alabama	70	Low	1973
30	Douglas County State Lake Dam	Kansas	70	High	1961
31	E Fork Pt Remove Creek Wid Site 09	Arkansas	69	High	1969
32	Parvin	Colorado	68	Significant	1925
33	Springs Valley Lake (f7)	Indiana	68	High	1963
34	Kirkpatrick Dam	Oklahoma	65	Low
35	W Fork Pt Remove Creek Wid Site 13	Arkansas	65	Low	1966
36	Crab Orchard Dam	Illinois	65	High	1939
37	Woodson County State Fishing Lake	Kansas	65	Low	1933
38	Shores Lake	Arkansas	63	Low	1958
39	Knoll	Arizona	63	Low	1963
40	Cove Lake	Arkansas	62	High	1938
41	Doyle Lake Dam	Illinois	62	High	1994
42	Catahoula Lake Control Structure	Louisiana	61	Low	1972
43	Eastgate	Wyoming	60	High	2010
44	Maumelle Nursery Pond Dam	Arkansas	60	Significant	1989
45	E Fork Pt Remove Creek Wid Site 06	Arkansas	60	Significant	1973
46	W Fork Pt Remove Creek Wid Site 04	Arkansas	60	Low	1963
47	Spring Lake	Arkansas	59	High	1939
48	Ament Lake Dam	Texas	59	High	1911
49	13-17-4975	Wyoming	59	Low	2007
50	Russell Lake Dam	Georgia	58	Low	1964