Tallest Dams in North Dakota

North Dakota has 948 dams with recorded heights. The tallest is Heart Butte Dam at 142 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	Heart Butte Dam	Grant	142	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1949
2	Jamestown Dam	Stutsman	110	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1954
3	Pipestem Dam	Stutsman	110	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1974
4	Senator Young Dam	Cavalier	96	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1961
5	Dead Colt Creek Dam	Ransom	92	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1984
6	Maple River Dam	Cass	89	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	2006
7	Middle Branch Park River Dam 5	Walsh	87	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	2006
8	Square Butte Creek Dam 6	Morton	81	Earth	Recreation	Significant	2007
9	Bowman-haley Dam	Bowman	79	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1967
10	Daub Dam	Oliver	79	Earth	Recreation	Significant	1971
11	Middle Branch Park River 8	Walsh	79	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1970
12		Oliver	77		Other	Low
13	Bourbanis Dam	Cavalier	76	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1957
14	Cottonwood Creek Dam	LaMoure	76	Earth	Recreation	Significant	1973
15	Matejcek Dam	Walsh	76	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1966
16	Beaver Creek Dam (bc-20)	Steele	75	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1988
17	Middle Branch Park River 9	Cavalier	74	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1970
18	Olson Dam	Pembina	74	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1957
19	Homme Dam	Walsh	72	Concrete	Water Supply	High	1950
20	Kolding Dam	Grand Forks	71	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1972
21	Upper Turtle River Flood Ret. 9	Grand Forks	71	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1979
22	Hartel West Reservoir	McKenzie	71		Water Supply	Low
23	Square Butte Creek Dam 5	Oliver	71	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1979
24	Hanks Corner Dam	Cavalier	70	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1955
25	Upper Turtle River Flood Ret. 5	Grand Forks	70	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1975
26	Maple River Dam (t-180)	Cass	69	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1985
27	Olga Dam	Cavalier	69	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	1955
28	Knife River Coal Pond 30	Mercer	69	Earth	Other	Low	1988
29	Nelson Lake Dam	Oliver	66	Earth	Other	High	1967
30	Fish Creek Dam	Morton	65	Earth	Recreation	Low	1971
31	Sweetbriar Creek Dam	Morton	65	Earth	Recreation	High	1964
32	Dickinson Dam	Stark	65	Earth	Irrigation	High	1950
33	Blacktail Dam	Williams	63	Earth	Recreation	Significant	1959
34	Upper Turtle R.fld.ret. 2	Grand Forks	62	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	1974
35	Sheep Creek Dam	Grant	61	Earth	Recreation	Low	1969
36	Baldhill Dam	Barnes	60	Concrete	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1950
37	Bylin Dam	Walsh	60	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1964
38	Boundary Creek Dam #3	Bottineau	59	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	1973
39	Mcdowell Dam	Burleigh	59	Earth	Recreation	Significant	1976
40	Middle Branch Park River Dam 6	Walsh	58	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1974
41	Glenharold Mine 144-84-19-5h	Mercer	56	Earth	Fish and Wildlife Pond	Low	1975
42	Epping Dam	Williams	56	Earth	Recreation	Significant	1935
43	Fordville Dam	Grand Forks	54	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1978
44	Raleigh Dam	Grant	54	Earth	Recreation	Significant	1910
45	Camel Butte Dam	Golden Valley	53	Earth	Recreation	Significant	1968
46	Clausen Springs Dam	Barnes	52	Earth	Recreation	High	1967
47	Upper Turtle River Flood Ret. 4	Grand Forks	52	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1980
48	Beulah Flood Control Dam	Mercer	52	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1982
49	Chyle Dam	Walsh	52	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1966
50	Northgate Dam 2	Burke	51	Earth	Recreation	Significant	1968

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