Tallest Dams in Minnesota

Minnesota has 1122 dams with recorded heights. The tallest is Erie Basin 2 at 250 feet. Taller dams impound more water and carry greater potential energy, which is why height is a key factor in hazard classification and inspection requirements.

#	Dam	County	Height (ft)	Type	Purpose	Hazard	Year
1	Erie Basin 2	St. Louis	250	Earth	Tailings	Significant	1978
2	Essar Steel Tailings Basin	Itasca	200	Earth	Tailings	Significant	2011
3	Erie Basin 1	St. Louis	200	Earth	Tailings	Significant	1978
4	Poly Met Hrf Dam	St. Louis	111	Earth	Tailings	Significant
5	Canisteo No. 2 North	Itasca	100	Earth	Tailings	Low
6	Northshore Mining	Lake	100	Earth	Tailings	High	1977
7	Hibbing Taconite Starter No. 4	St. Louis	100	Earth	Tailings	Undetermined
8	Hibbing Taconite Starter No. 2	St. Louis	100	Earth	Tailings	Undetermined	1975
9	Hibbing Taconite Tailings Basin	St. Louis	100	Earth	Tailings	High
10	Hibbing Taconite Reclaim Pond	St. Louis	100	Earth	Tailings	High
11	Western Hibtac	St. Louis	100	Earth	Tailings	Undetermined	1978
12	St. Anthony Falls Upper Lock And Dam	Hennepin	93	Concrete	Navigation	Significant	1963
13	Fond Du Lac	St. Louis	80	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1924
14	Kaposia Park	Dakota	79	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1932
15	Canisteo Pit	Itasca	75	Earth	Tailings	Low
16	South Zumbro Br-1	Olmsted	75	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1991
17	Rapidan	Blue Earth	73	Buttress	Hydroelectric	Significant	1910
18	Essar Steel Reclaim Pond	Itasca	70	Earth	Tailings	Low	2011
19	Nspc Stage 2 Tailings	St. Louis	70	Earth	Tailings	Significant	1978
20	Polymet-ltv	St. Louis	69	Earth	Tailings	Significant	1981
21	Lazarus Creek	Yellow Medicine	67	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	2005
22	Canby R-6	Yellow Medicine	66	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1981
23	Hill Annex No. 3 (south)	Itasca	65	Earth	Tailings	Low	1920
24	Lake Zumbro	Wabasha	65	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1919
25	Hill Annex No. 1 (north)	Itasca	63	Earth	Tailings	Low	1954
26	Hauschild-thanghe	Lincoln	62	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	1980
27	Canby R-1	Yellow Medicine	62	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1985
28	Crooked Creek R-3	Houston	60	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1968
29	Orwell Dam	Otter Tail	60	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1953
30	Upland Cell Ii Interior	St. Louis	60	Earth	Tailings	Significant	2011
31	St. Anthony Falls Lower Lock And Dam	Hennepin	58	Concrete	Navigation	Significant	1956
32	Lind Greenway	Itasca	58	Earth	Tailings	Significant	1976
33	O'brien North	Itasca	58	Earth	Tailings	Significant	1972
34	Walnut Grove	Redwood	57	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1979
35	Belle Creek R-4	Goodhue	56	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1977
36	Mississippi River Locks And Dam 1	Hennepin	56	Concrete	Navigation	Significant	1917
37	Crooked Creek R-1	Houston	56	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	1967
38	South Zumbro Wr-6a	Olmsted	56	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1989
39	Belle Creek R-2	Goodhue	55	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1983
40	Fargo-moorhead Diversion	Clay	54	Rockfill	Flood Risk Reduction	High
41	Crooked Creek R-4	Houston	54	Gravity	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1967
42	Dillon-syltie-boulton	Lincoln	54	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1974
43	Wellner-hageman	Brown	52		Flood Risk Reduction	Low	1993
44	Crooked Creek R-2	Houston	52	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1966
45	Tetonka Ridge	Lincoln	52	Rockfill	Flood Risk Reduction	Low
46	Belle Creek R-1	Goodhue	51	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1979
47	Clay-boswell	Itasca	50	Earth	Tailings	Significant
48	Buckeye Tailings No. 2	Itasca	50	Earth	Tailings	Low	1950
49	Plummer Basin East Tailings	Itasca	50	Other	Tailings	Low	1956
50	Holly 9	Murray	50	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	2007

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