Flood Control Dams in the United States

14,941Total

3979High Hazard

1549Significant

Flood control dams are designed to temporarily store excess water during storms and release it at a controlled rate, protecting downstream communities from flooding. Many were built by the Army Corps of Engineers or local flood control districts in response to historic floods.

These dams don't always hold permanent reservoirs — some are "dry dams" that only impound water during flood events. Their hazard classification is often high because they're specifically sited upstream of populated areas they're designed to protect.

Flood Control Dams by State

State	Count	High Hazard	Tallest (ft)
Oklahoma	2349	277	225
Texas	2264	789	287
Kansas	1710	170	202
Nebraska	1199	113	165
Missouri	1129	106	260
Mississippi	616	124	117
Iowa	427	56	125
Minnesota	402	21	79
Georgia	354	182	197
Virginia	267	136	257
Colorado	248	49	390
Kentucky	232	59	206
North Carolina	217	140	480
Pennsylvania	215	149	184
Illinois	201	56	138
Utah	181	69	502
West Virginia	181	177	310
Arkansas	179	41	282
New Mexico	178	135	402
Florida	154	32	66
California	151	127	770
Indiana	146	48	150
South Carolina	143	89	138
Maryland	142	39	296
Alabama	136	36	137
Washington	132	94	550
Nevada	122	102	180
Ohio	120	73	205
New York	111	65	249
Wisconsin	102	23	127
Arizona	98	63	440
Montana	96	19	564
North Dakota	95	33	142
Massachusetts	91	44	150
Maine	61	17	75
Tennessee	59	27	332
South Dakota	58	8	245
Wyoming	57	15	220
New Jersey	54	15	55
New Hampshire	52	38	119
Connecticut	50	42	178
Louisiana	43	9	76
Michigan	37	12	39
Oregon	25	22	519
Idaho	19	7	717
Vermont	13	11	247
Hawaii	11	11	83
Alaska	5	3	91
Puerto Rico	4	4	323
Rhode Island	3	1	9
Delaware	2	1	24

Largest Flood Control Dams

#	Dam	State	Height (ft)	Hazard	Year
1	Oroville	California	770	High	1968
2	Dworshak Dam	Idaho	717	High	1973
3	Hungry Horse Dam	Montana	564	High	1953
4	Seven Oaks	California	550	High	1999
5	Grand Coulee Dam	Washington	550	High	1941
6	Cougar Dam	Oregon	519	High	1963
7	Flaming Gorge Dam	Utah	502	High	1964
8	Fontana Dam	North Carolina	480	High	1944
9	Detroit Dam	Oregon	463	High	1953
10	Anderson Ranch Dam	Idaho	456	High	1950
11	New Waddell Dam	Arizona	440	High	1992
12	Pine Flat Dam	California	440	High	1954
13	Mud Mountain Dam	Washington	425	High	1948
14	Navajo Dam	New Mexico	402	High	1963
15	Blue Mesa Dam	Colorado	390	High	1966
16	Green Peter Dam	Oregon	378	High	1967
17	Pacoima	California	365	High	1929
18	Warm Springs Dam	California	356	High	1983
19	Abiquiu Dam	New Mexico	354	High	1963
20	Arrowrock Dam	Idaho	350	High	1915
21	Hills Creek Dam	Oregon	341	High	1962
22	Asamera Cannon Mine Tailings Dam	Washington	340	High	1986
23	Lucky Peak Dam	Idaho	340	High	1955
24	Watauga Dam	Tennessee	332	High	1948
25	Ridgway Dam	Colorado	330	High	1987
26	Cerrillos Dam	Puerto Rico	323	High	1992
27	Tieton Dam	Washington	319	High	1925
28	R.d. Bailey Dam	West Virginia	310	High	1976
29	Hiwassee Dam	North Carolina	307	High	1940
30	Jennings Randolph Dam	Maryland	296	High	1981
31	Amistad Dam	Texas	287	High	1969
32	South Holston Dam	Tennessee	285	High	1950
33	Alamo Dam	Arizona	283	High	1968
34	Bull Shoals Dam	Arkansas	282	High	1951
35	Mansfield Dam	Texas	278	High	1942
36	Lookout Point Dam	Oregon	276	High	1953
37	Palisades Dam	Idaho	270	High	1957
38	Blue River Dam	Oregon	270	High	1968
39	Cogswell	California	266	High	1935
40	Norris Dam	Tennessee	265	High	1936
41	East Canyon Dam	Utah	260	High	1966
42	Table Rock Dam	Missouri	260	High	1959
43	Gathright Dam	Virginia	257	High	1978
44	Fort Peck Dam	Montana	256	High	1940
45	Ririe Dam	Idaho	253	High	1977
46	Cochiti Dam	New Mexico	251	High	1975
47	John W. Flannagan Dam	Virginia	250	High	1963
48	Mount Morris Dam	New York	249	High	1952
49	Norfork Dam	Arkansas	248	High	1944
50	Ball Mountain Dam	Vermont	247	High	1961