Tallest Dams in Nebraska

Nebraska has 2954 dams with recorded heights. The tallest is Medicine Creek Dam at 165 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	Medicine Creek Dam	Frontier	165	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1949
2	Kingsley	Keith	162	Earth	Hydroelectric	High	1941
3	Davis Creek Dam	Greeley	144	Earth	Irrigation	High	1990
4	Trenton Dam	Hitchcock	144	Earth	Irrigation	High	1953
5	Sherman Dam	Sherman	134	Earth	Irrigation	High	1962
6	Merritt Dam	Cherry	126	Earth	Irrigation	High	1964
7	Red Willow Dam	Frontier	126	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1962
8	Elwood Dam	Gosper	118	Earth	Irrigation	High	1976
9	Minatare Dam	Scotts Bluff	114	Earth	Irrigation	High	1915
10	Beaver Lake Dam	Cass	108	Earth	Recreation	High	1973
11	Harlan County Dam	Harlan	107	Gravity	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1952
12	Virginia Smith Dam	Garfield	96	Earth	Irrigation	High	1985
13	Zorinsky Dam	Douglas	90	Rockfill	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1985
14	Jeffrey Dam	Lincoln	90	Earth	Irrigation	High	1941
15	Box Butte Dam	Dawes	87	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1946
16	Newport Landing Dam	Douglas	87	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	2000
17	Wehrspann Dam	Sarpy	87	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1983
18	Pigeon-jones Creek 12-a	Dakota	82	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	2022
19	Gering Valley F	Scotts Bluff	81	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1965
20	Gering Valley E	Scotts Bluff	81	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1965
21	Branched Oak Dam	Lancaster	80	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1967
22	Willow Creek Dam	Pierce	80	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1983
23	Ponca S Park Dam	Dixon	78	Earth	Other	Low	2003
24	Upper Medicine Creek 370	Frontier	77	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1973
25	Upper Medicine Creek 390-b	Frontier	77	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1975
26	Tekamah-mud Creek 5-a	Burt	76	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1980
27	Lower Medicine Creek 200	Frontier	76	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1974
28	Lonergan Dam	Douglas	75	Earth	Recreation	High	1968
29	Big Plum Creek	Dawson	74	Earth	Hydroelectric	Low	1941
30	Blackwood Creek 11-a	Hayes	74	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1992
31	Gering Valley B	Scotts Bluff	74	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1964
32	Lower Medicine Creek 160	Frontier	73	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1979
33	Prairie Queen Main Dam	Sarpy	73	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	2014
34	Wauneta North Dam	Chase	72	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1970
35	Blackwood Creek 12-a	Hayes	71	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	1988
36	Blackwood Creek 63-a	Hayes	71	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	1989
37	Pawnee Dam	Lancaster	71	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1965
38	Upper Medicine Creek 410	Frontier	70	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1976
39	Nelms Dam	Custer	69	Earth	Other	Low	1962
40	Pigeon-jones Creek 15	Dakota	69	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	2013
41	Brule Creek 1-a	Keith	69	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1970
42	Long Branch 21	Richardson	69	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1986
43	Aowa Creek 32-3a	Dixon	67	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	2000
44	Tekamah-mud Creek 9-a	Burt	66	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1976
45	Papio Creek 13 - Youngman	Douglas	66	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	2006
46	Centurylink Dam (multi-purpose Dam 1989-1)	Cass	65	Earth	Recreation	High	1990
47	Aowa Creek 43-9a	Dixon	65	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	1999
48	Blackwood Creek 72-a	Hayes	65	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	1989
49	Conestoga Dam	Lancaster	65	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1964
50	Duck Creek Dam	Nemaha	65	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	2016

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