Largest Reservoirs in North Dakota

North Dakota has 930 dams with recorded storage capacity. The largest is Garrison Dam - Williston Levee with 26,000,000 acre-feet of maximum storage. One acre-foot equals about 326,000 gallons — enough to supply roughly two households for a year.

#	Dam	County	Max Storage (acre-ft)	Height (ft)	Purpose	Year
1	Garrison Dam - Williston Levee	Williams	26,000,000	28	Flood Risk Reduction	1953
2	Acorn Ridge	Ramsey	7,173,400	37	Flood Risk Reduction	2012
3	Spirit Lake Jetty 2	Benson	3,782,889	28	Flood Risk Reduction	1997
4	Spirit Lake St. Michael 3	Benson	3,422,260	27	Flood Risk Reduction	1987
5	Spirit Lake Jetty 1	Benson	3,341,785	22	Flood Risk Reduction	1997
6	Spirit Lake Bia 4 South	Benson	3,258,110	26	Flood Risk Reduction	1987
7	Spirit Lake Bia 5	Benson	3,170,994	40	Flood Risk Reduction	1987
8	Spirit Lake Bia 4 North	Benson	3,170,994	38	Flood Risk Reduction	1987
9	Spirit Lake St. Michael 2	Benson	2,673,067	32	Flood Risk Reduction	1987
10	Spirit Lake Spring Lake	Benson	2,437,497	30	Flood Risk Reduction	1987
11	Spirit Lake St. Michael 1	Benson	2,437,497	22	Flood Risk Reduction	1987
12	Spirit Lake Kurtz	Benson	1,387,293	16	Flood Risk Reduction	2013
13	Heart Butte Dam	Grant	451,200	142	Flood Risk Reduction	1949
14	Jamestown Dam	Stutsman	379,636	110	Flood Risk Reduction	1954
15	Lake Darling Dam	Ward	200,583	39	Fish and Wildlife Pond	1937
16	Pipestem Dam	Stutsman	181,650	110	Flood Risk Reduction	1974
17	Bowman-haley Dam	Bowman	171,838	79	Flood Risk Reduction	1967
18	Baldhill Dam	Barnes	156,000	60	Flood Risk Reduction	1950
19	Long Lake Nwr 7	Burleigh	106,200	8	Fish and Wildlife Pond	1943
20	Maple River Dam	Cass	103,200	89	Flood Risk Reduction	2006
21	J. Clark Salyer #357 Dam	Bottineau	77,371	16	Fish and Wildlife Pond	1936
22	Des Lacs #2 Dam	Ward	64,000	14	Fish and Wildlife Pond	1935
23	J. Clark Salyer #326 Dam	McHenry	44,802	13		1936
24	Lake Ilo Dam	Dunn	31,326	51	Recreation	1937
25	English Coulee Dam	Grand Forks	29,200	27	Flood Risk Reduction	1990
26	Dickinson Dam	Stark	26,462	65	Irrigation	1950
27	J. Clark Salyer #332 Dam	Bottineau	25,712	14	Fish and Wildlife Pond	1936
28	J. Clark Salyer #320 Dam	McHenry	24,624	13	Fish and Wildlife Pond	1936
29	J. Clark Salyer #341 Dam	Bottineau	22,304	14	Fish and Wildlife Pond	1936
30	Lake Metigoshe Dam	Bottineau	21,650	9	Recreation	1961
31	Buffalo Lodge Lake Dam	McHenry	20,775	12	Recreation
32	Nelson Lake Dam	Oliver	20,122	66	Other	1967
33	North Bay Dam	Sargent	18,518	18	Fish and Wildlife Pond	1965
34	Cottonwood Creek Dam	LaMoure	16,839	76	Recreation	1973
35	Long Lake Nwr 6	Burleigh	14,014	8	Fish and Wildlife Pond	1943
36	Ardoch Dam	Walsh	13,630	15	Fish and Wildlife Pond	1938
37	Seitz Dam	Foster	11,700	7	Flood Risk Reduction	2002
38	Renwick Dam	Pembina	11,658	49	Flood Risk Reduction	1962
39	Lake Alice Dam	Ramsey	11,642	13	Fish and Wildlife Pond	1942
40	Buffalo Lake Dam	Pierce	11,200	12	Fish and Wildlife Pond	1930
41	Mount Carmel Dam	Cavalier	10,707	47	Recreation	1971
42	Fordville Dam	Grand Forks	10,703	54	Flood Risk Reduction	1978
43	Upper Turtle River Flood Ret. 9	Grand Forks	10,410	71	Flood Risk Reduction	1979
44	Sweetbriar Creek Dam	Morton	10,400	65	Recreation	1964
45	Upper Maple River Dam	Steele	9,953	35	Flood Risk Reduction	2015
46	Lake Zahl Dam	Williams	9,720	9	Fish and Wildlife Pond	1937
47	Whitman Dam	Nelson	9,364	49	Flood Risk Reduction	1965
48	Belcourt Lake	Rolette	9,159	13	Recreation	1930
49	Lords Lake Dam	Bottineau	9,150	7	Fish and Wildlife Pond	1930
50	Matejcek Dam	Walsh	9,000	76	Flood Risk Reduction	1966

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