Tallest Dams in South Dakota

South Dakota has 2541 dams with recorded heights. The tallest is Grizzly Gulch Tailings Dam at 380 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	Grizzly Gulch Tailings Dam	Lawrence	380	Earth	Tailings	High	1998
2	Oahe Dam - Fort Yates Flood Protection Project	Sioux	245	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1966
3	Big Bend Dam	Lyman	205	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1963
4	Angostura Dam	Fall River	193	Concrete	Irrigation	High	1949
5	Deerfield Dam	Pennington	171	Earth	Fish and Wildlife Pond	High	1947
6	Fort Randall Dam	Charles Mix	170	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1954
7	Shadehill Dam	Perkins	145	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1951
8	Sheridan Lake	Pennington	134	Earth	Recreation	High	1939
9	Cold Brook Dam	Fall River	130	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1953
10	Cottonwood Springs Dam	Fall River	123	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1969
11	Belle Fourche Dam	Butte	122	Earth	Irrigation	High	1911
12	Pactola Dike 1	Pennington	115	Earth		High	1956
13	Highway 44 #6	Mellette	102	Earth	Other	Significant	1973
14	Buffalo Lake Road Dam 1	Ziebach	95	Earth	Recreation	Significant	1961
15	Highway Dept. #3	Mellette	91	Earth	Other	Significant	1970
16	Buffalo Lake Road Dam 2	Meade	82	Earth	Recreation	Significant	1961
17	Richmond Hill	Lawrence	79	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	1988
18	Beckwith Dam	Haakon	75	Earth	Fire Protection, Stock, Or Small Fish Pond	Low	1977
19	Gavins Point Dam - Yankton Dam	Yankton	74	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	1958
20	Randall Rc&d Ca-176-gr	Gregory	69	Earth	Grade Stabilization	Low	1976
21	Sargent Irrigation Dam	Tripp	67	Earth	Irrigation	Low	1972
22	Wild Rice Creek No. 3	Marshall	66	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	1961
23	Marty Mission	Charles Mix	65	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	1938
24	Horsethief Lake	Pennington	65	Earth	Recreation	High	1940
25	Spring-bull 1	Charles Mix	64	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1973
26	Garrett Dam	Sully	64	Earth	Fire Protection, Stock, Or Small Fish Pond	Low	1980
27	Logan Thoene No.1	Gregory	63	Earth	Irrigation	Low	1975
28	Oglala	Oglala Lakota	62	Earth	Recreation	High	1941
29	Waterbury Dam	Gregory	60	Earth	Fire Protection, Stock, Or Small Fish Pond	Low	1976
30	Highway Dept. #2	Mellette	60	Earth	Other	Significant	1970
31	Lowell West Dam	Sully	60	Earth	Fire Protection, Stock, Or Small Fish Pond	Low	1976
32	Bak #1	Mellette	59	Earth	Other	Significant	1970
33	Marindahl	Yankton	58	Earth	Recreation	High	1953
34	Center Lake Dam	Custer	56	Earth	Recreation	High	1935
35	Crow Creek	Buffalo	55	Earth	Recreation	Significant	1939
36	Mitchell	Davison	55	Earth	Water Supply	High	1928
37	Spring-bull 2c	Charles Mix	54	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Significant	1982
38	Stockade Lake Dam	Custer	53	Earth	Recreation	High	1930
39	Menno Dam	Hutchinson	53	Earth	Recreation	High	1935
40	Orl Walcott #1	Lyman	53	Earth	Fire Protection, Stock, Or Small Fish Pond	Significant	1967
41	Highway 44 #4	Mellette	53	Earth	Other	Significant	1970
42	Richmond	Brown	52	Earth	Recreation	High	1935
43	Elm Lake Dam	Brown	52	Earth	Water Supply	High	1937
44	Burlington Dam	Fall River	52	Earth	Fire Protection, Stock, Or Small Fish Pond	Low	1919
45	Bh Rc&d Grade Structure Bh Ca-305.3-la	Lawrence	50	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	Low	1976
46	Berry Dam	Mellette	50	Earth	Fire Protection, Stock, Or Small Fish Pond	Significant	1985
47	Highway 44	Mellette	50	Earth	Other	Significant	1973
48	Indian Scout	Todd	50	Earth	Recreation	High	2010
49	Willow Creek	Brown	49	Earth	Water Supply	High	1934
50	Herman #7	Jones	49	Earth	Fire Protection, Stock, Or Small Fish Pond	Low	1958

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