Tallest Dams in the United States

The tallest dams in America are feats of engineering that impound massive reservoirs for water supply, flood control, and hydroelectric power. Oroville Dam in California stands 770 feet tall. Hoover Dam on the Nevada-Arizona border reaches 730 feet. These structures hold back billions of gallons of water and require constant monitoring and maintenance.

Height matters for dam safety because taller dams hold more potential energy. A failure at a tall dam can send a wall of water downstream with devastating force. Most of the tallest dams carry high hazard classifications, meaning failure would likely cause loss of life.

#	Dam	State	Height (ft)	Type	Purpose	Hazard	Year
1	Thompson Mtis	Idaho	789		Tailings	High	1982
2	Chess Refuse Disposal Area No. 1	West Virginia	780	Earth	Tailings	High
3	Oroville	California	770	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1968
4	Delbarton Slurry Impoundment	West Virginia	760	Earth	Other	High	2004
5	Hoover Dam	Nevada	730	Concrete	Hydroelectric	High	1935
6	Dworshak Dam	Idaho	717	Concrete	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1973
7	Glen Canyon Dam	Arizona	710	Concrete	Hydroelectric	High	1963
8	Abner Fork Dam	Kentucky	700	Earth	Water Supply	High
9	Sidney Slurry Impoundment	Kentucky	665	Earth	Tailings	High
10	Long Fork Slurry Impoundment	Kentucky	665	Earth	Tailings	High
11	Killarney Slurry Impoundment	West Virginia	657	Earth	Tailings	High
12	New Bullards Bar	California	645	Concrete	Hydroelectric	High	1970
13	New Melones Dam	California	625	Rockfill	Hydroelectric	High	1979
14	Jake Gore Slurry Impoundment	West Virginia	610	Earth	Tailings	High
15	Mossyrock	Washington	606	Arch	Hydroelectric	High	1968
16	Brushy Fork Impoundment	West Virginia	605	Other	Tailings	High	1996
17	Long Bottom Branch Dam	Virginia	605	Earth	Other	Undetermined
18	Shasta Dam	California	602	Concrete	Hydroelectric	High	1945
19	Yankee Doodle Tailings Dam	Montana	570	Rockfill	Other	High	1972
20	Hungry Horse Dam	Montana	564	Concrete	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1953
21	Aldrich Branch Slurry Impoundment	West Virginia	560	Earth	Tailings	High
22	Seven Oaks	California	550	Rockfill	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1999
23	Grand Coulee Dam	Washington	550	Concrete	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1941
24	Half Mile Dam	Kentucky	545	Earth	Water Supply	High
25	Rocklick Slurry Impoundment	West Virginia	540	Earth	Tailings	High
26	Ross	Washington	540	Concrete	Hydroelectric	High	1949
27	Trinity Dam	California	538	Earth	Hydroelectric	High	1962
28	Bloss Branch Slurry Dam	Kentucky	535	Earth	Tailings	High
29	Yellowtail Dam	Montana	525	Concrete		High	1966
30	Jarrells Branch Slurry Impoundment	West Virginia	520	Earth	Tailings	High
31	North Block Tailings Impoundment Dam	Nevada	520	Earth	Tailings	High	1993
32	Cougar Dam	Oregon	519	Rockfill	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1963
33	Flaming Gorge Dam	Utah	502	Concrete	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1964
34	Rock House Branch Slurry Impoundment	West Virginia	482	Earth	Tailings	High
35	Oldhouse Branch Slurry Impoundment	Kentucky	481	Earth	Tailings	High
36	Adams Fork Slurry Dam	Kentucky	480	Earth	Water Supply	High
37	Fontana Dam	North Carolina	480	Concrete	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1944
38	Sukey Branch Slurry Impoundment	Kentucky	478	Earth	Tailings	High
39	Lotts Branch Slurry Impoundment	West Virginia	478	Earth	Tailings	High
40	Morrow Point Dam	Colorado	468	Concrete	Hydroelectric	High	1968
41	Carters Main Dam	Georgia	464	Rockfill	Hydroelectric	High	1974
42	Detroit Dam	Oregon	463	Gravity	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1953
43	Anderson Ranch Dam	Idaho	456	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1950
44	Union Valley	California	455	Earth	Hydroelectric	High	1962
45	Rob Fork Slurry Impoundment	Kentucky	450	Earth	Tailings	High
46	Gum Branch Dam	Tennessee	447	Earth	Tailings	High	1981
47	Cow Branch Slurry Impoundment	Kentucky	442	Earth	Tailings	High
48	Oldhouse Branch Impoundment No. 3	West Virginia	440	Earth	Tailings	High
49	Round Butte	Oregon	440	Rockfill	Hydroelectric	High	1964
50	New Waddell Dam	Arizona	440	Rockfill	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1992
51	Pine Flat Dam	California	440	Gravity	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1954
52	Turkeypen Branch Slurry Impoundment	Kentucky	425	Earth	Tailings	High
53	Mud Mountain Dam	Washington	425	Rockfill	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1948
54	Pyramid	California	422	Earth	Water Supply	High	1974
55	Razorblade Branch Slurry Impoundment	Kentucky	422	Earth	Tailings	High
56	Libby Dam	Montana	422	Gravity	Hydroelectric	High	1973
57	Burke Branch Slurry Impoundment	Kentucky	421	Earth	Tailings	High
58	Owyhee Dam	Oregon	417	Concrete	Irrigation	High	1932
59	Ten Mile Pond #3 Dam	Colorado	416	Earth	Tailings	High
60	Bean Hollow Slurry Impoundment (plant 1 Crdf)	West Virginia	415	Earth	Tailings	High
61	Big Groundhog Slurry Impoundment	Kentucky	412	Earth	Tailings	High
62	Swift No. 1	Washington	412	Earth	Hydroelectric	High	1958
63	Mammoth Pool	California	411	Earth	Hydroelectric	High	1960
64	Four Seam Slurry Dam	Kentucky	410	Earth	Tailings	High
65	Harmar Refuse Bank	Pennsylvania	410	Other	Other	High	1957
66	Hell Hole	California	410	Rockfill	Irrigation	High	1966
67	Tinsley Branch Refuse Impoundment	West Virginia	405	Earth	Tailings	Undetermined	2005
68	Navajo Dam	New Mexico	402	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1963
69	1 West	Arizona	400	Earth	Tailings	Low
70	Little Blue Run	Pennsylvania	400	Rockfill	Other	High	1977
71	Brownlee	Oregon	395	Rockfill	Hydroelectric	High	1958
72	Jordanelle Dam	Utah	391	Earth	Water Supply	High	1993
73	Shumate Creek Slurry Impoundment	West Virginia	390	Earth	Tailings	High
74	Blue Mesa Dam	Colorado	390	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1966
75	Diablo	Washington	389	Concrete	Hydroelectric	High	1929
76	Cherry Tree Hollow Refuse Facility	West Virginia	385	Earth	Tailings	High
77	Amonate Slurry Impoundment	West Virginia	384	Earth	Tailings	High
78	San Gabriel	California	381	Earth	Hydroelectric	High	1937
79	Grizzly Gulch Tailings Dam	South Dakota	380	Earth	Tailings	High	1998
80	Cumberland No. 1 Slurry Pond 1	Pennsylvania	380	Earth	Other	High	1984
81	Green Peter Dam	Oregon	378	Gravity	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1967
82	Clay Hollow Slurry Impoundment	Kentucky	375	Earth	Tailings	High
83	Right Fork Dam	Kentucky	370	Earth	Water Supply	High
84	Upper Lick Branch Slurry Impoundment	Kentucky	370	Earth	Tailings	High
85	Ragland Slurry Impoundment	West Virginia	370	Earth	Tailings	High
86	Cumberland No. 2 Slurry Pond	Pennsylvania	370	Earth	Other	High
87	Pacoima	California	365	Arch	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1929
88	Jacks Branch Slurry Impoundment	West Virginia	365	Earth	Tailings	High
89	Stonecoal Branch Slurry Dam	Kentucky	365	Earth	Tailings	High
90	Cunningham Hollow Slurry Impoundment	West Virginia	363	Earth	Other	High	2003
91	Lovely Branch Slurry Dam	Kentucky	360	Earth	Water Supply	High
92	Boundary	Washington	360	Concrete	Hydroelectric	High	1967
93	Ben Creek Slurry Impoundment	West Virginia	358	Earth	Tailings	High
94	Theodore Roosevelt Dam	Arizona	357	Masonry	Hydroelectric	High	1911
95	Big Hollow Slurry Impoundment	Kentucky	356	Earth	Tailings	High
96	Warm Springs Dam	California	356	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1983
97	Arjay Slurry Impoundment	Kentucky	355	Earth	Water Supply	High
98	Holden #22 Slurry Impoundment	West Virginia	355	Earth	Tailings	High
99	Campbells Creek Slurry Impoundment	West Virginia	355	Other	Tailings	High	1999
100	Abiquiu Dam	New Mexico	354	Earth	Flood Risk Reduction	High	1963