List of dams in the Colorado River system facts for kids

Map showing locations of major dams in the Colorado River basin. Lee's Ferry, which separates the Upper and Lower Basins, is located just downriver from Glen Canyon Dam.

The Colorado River system is home to many important dams. These dams are found across the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. The Colorado River flows for about 1,450 miles (2,333 km). It starts in the Rocky Mountains and ends in the Gulf of California. This river system provides water to parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states.

The Colorado River is one of the most developed rivers in the world. It has fifteen dams on its main stream. Hundreds more dams are built on its smaller rivers, called tributaries. Together, these dams can hold four to five times the river's yearly water flow. They help create hydroelectricity (power from water). They also supply water for farming and for over 35 million people to drink and use in their homes and businesses.

Dams on smaller rivers (tributaries) are included in this list if they are taller than 250 feet (76 meters). They are also listed if they can store more than 50,000 acre-feet (61,674,000 cubic meters) of water. Some historically important dams are also listed. These tributary dams are split into two groups: those in the Upper Basin and those in the Lower Basin. The Upper Basin is the half of the Colorado River basin above Lee's Ferry, Arizona. Important rivers in the Upper Basin include the Green, Gunnison, and San Juan. Rivers in the Lower Basin include the Little Colorado, Virgin, and Gila. A river called the Animas River, which flows into the San Juan River, was affected by a mining waste spill in 2015.

Dams serve many purposes:

Flood control: They hold back floodwaters temporarily and then release them slowly.
Hydropower: They use the force of flowing water to create electricity.
Irrigation: They store and provide water for farms to grow crops.
Municipal: They store and provide water for cities, homes, and businesses.
Regulation: They help control the river's flow. This makes sure water is released steadily or when needed by people downstream.

Dams on the Main Colorado River

The Colorado River's main channel has several large and important dams. These dams are crucial for managing water resources across the region. They help provide water and power to millions of people.

Parker Dam (AZ-CA)
Hoover Dam (AZ-NV)
Glen Canyon Dam (AZ)
Grand Valley Diversion Dam (CO)
Granby Dam (CO)

Name	State	Owner	Purpose	Year completed	Reservoir	Reservoir capacity	Capacity (MW)	Annual generation (MWh)
Morelos Dam	AZ BC	IBWC	Irrigation	1950	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Laguna Diversion Dam	AZ CA	USBR	Diversion	1905	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Imperial Dam	AZ CA	USBR	Irrigation	1938	Imperial Reservoir	160,000 acre.ft (197,400 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Palo Verde Dam	AZ CA	USBR	Diversion	1958	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Headgate Rock Dam	AZ CA	BIA	Irrigation	1941	Moovalya Lake	N/A	&&&&&&&&&&&&&019.50000019.5	?
Parker Dam	AZ CA	USBR	Hydropower Irrigation Municipal	1938	Lake Havasu	646,200 acre.ft (797,100 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&0120.&&&&&0120	456,944
Davis Dam	AZ NV	USBR	Hydropower Regulation	1951	Lake Mohave	1,818,300 acre.ft (2,242,800 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&0255.&&&&&0255	1,147,673
Hoover Dam	AZ NV	USBR	Flood control Hydropower Irrigation Municipal Regulation	1936	Lake Mead	28,945,000 acre.ft (35,702,400 dam³)	2,079	3,806,935
Glen Canyon Dam	AZ	USBR	Hydropower Regulation	1966	Lake Powell	&&&&&&&026214900.&&&&&026,214,900 acre.ft (32,334,900 dam³)	1,296	3,454,847
Price-Stubb Dam	CO	PCID MCID	Irrigation	1911	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Grand Valley Diversion Dam	CO	USBR	Irrigation	1916	N/A	N/A	&&&&&&&&&&&&&&03.&&&&&03	19,350
Windy Gap Dam	CO	Northern Water	Irrigation Municipal	1970	Windy Gap Reservoir	&&&&&&&&&&&&0445.&&&&&0445 acre.ft (549 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Granby Dam	CO	USBR	Irrigation Municipal	1950	Lake Granby	539,800 acre.ft (665,800 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Shadow Mountain Dam	CO	USBR	Irrigation Municipal	1946	Shadow Mountain Lake	18,400 acre.ft (22,700 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Total						58,343,045 acre.ft (71,963,595 dam³)	3,772.5	8,885,749

Dams in the Upper Colorado River Basin

The Upper Basin of the Colorado River includes the areas above Lee's Ferry in Arizona. This region has many dams on smaller rivers that feed into the main Colorado River. These dams help manage water for different uses, like farming and creating power.

Name	State	Stream	Owner	Purpose	Year completed	Reservoir	Reservoir capacity	Capacity (MW)	Annual generation (MWh)
Blue Mesa Dam	CO	Gunnison	USBR	Flood control Hydropower Regulation	1966	Blue Mesa Reservoir	940,700 acre.ft (1,160,300 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&&086.40000086.4	203,412
Dillon Dam	CO	Blue	Denver Water	Irrigation Municipal	1963	Dillon Reservoir	257,304 acre.ft (317,373 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&&&01.8000001.8	?
Flaming Gorge Dam	UT	Green	USBR	Flood control Hydropower Regulation	1964	Flaming Gorge Reservoir	3,788,700 acre.ft (4,673,200 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&0153.&&&&&0153	344,369
Fontenelle Dam	WY	Green	USBR	Flood control Irrigation	1964	Fontenelle Reservoir	345,360 acre.ft (426,990 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&&010.&&&&&010	67,043
Green Mountain Dam	CO	Blue	USBR	Hydropower Regulation	1943	Green Mountain Reservoir	153,639 acre.ft (189,507 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&&021.60000021.6	60,228
Joes Valley Dam	UT	Seely Cr.	USBR	Irrigation Municipal	1966	Joes Valley Reservoir	54,920 acre.ft (67,740 dam³)	N/A	N/A
McPhee Dam	CO	Dolores	USBR	Flood control Irrigation	1984	McPhee Reservoir	381,195 acre.ft (470,187 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&&&01.2830001.283	5,335
Morrow Point Dam	CO	Gunnison	USBR	Hydropower	1968	Morrow Point Reservoir	117,190 acre.ft (144,550 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&0173.334000173.334	292,887
Navajo Dam	NM	San Juan	USBR	Flood control Irrigation Municipal Regulation	1962	Navajo Lake	1,708,600 acre.ft (2,107,500 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&&032.&&&&&032	215,000
Ridges Basin Dam	CO	Offstream	USBR	Irrigation	2007	Lake Nighthorse	120,000 acre.ft (148,000 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Ridgway Dam	CO	Uncompahgre	USBR	Flood control Irrigation	1987	Ridgway Reservoir	84,410 acre.ft (104,120 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Ruedi Dam	CO	Fryingpan	USBR	Irrigation Municipal	1968	Ruedi Reservoir	102,000 acre.ft (125,800 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Scofield Dam	UT	Price	USBR	Irrigation Municipal	1946	Scofield Reservoir	73,600 acre.ft (90,780 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Soldier Creek Dam	UT	Strawberry	USBR	Irrigation Municipal	1974	Strawberry Reservoir	1,127,610 acre.ft (1,390,860 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Starvation Dam	UT	Strawberry	USBR	Irrigation	1970	Starvation Reservoir	167,300 acre.ft (206,400 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Taylor Park Dam	CO	Taylor	USBR	Irrigation	1937	Taylor Park Reservoir	106,200 acre.ft (130,990 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Vallecito Dam	CO	Los Pinos River	USBR	Irrigation	1941	Vallecito Reservoir	129,700 acre.ft (160,000 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Vega Dam	CO	Plateau Creek	USBR	Irrigation	1959	Vega Reservoir	33,800 acre.ft (41,691 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Williams Fork Dam	CO	Williams Fork	Denver Water	Irrigation Municipal	1959	Williams Fork Reservoir	96,822 acre.ft (119,426 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&&&03.1580003.158	?
Wolford Mountain Dam	CO	Muddy Cr.	CRWCD	Irrigation Municipal	1996	Wolford Mountain Reservoir	66,000 acre.ft (81,400 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Total							9,821,250 acre.ft (12,114,080 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&0482.575000482.575	1,188,274

Dams in the Lower Colorado River Basin

The Lower Basin of the Colorado River is the area below Lee's Ferry. This part of the river system also has many important dams on its tributaries. These dams play a big role in controlling floods and supplying water for cities and farms in the drier parts of the Southwest.

Bartlett Dam (AZ)
Mormon Flat Dam (AZ)
New Waddell Dam (AZ)
Painted Rock Dam (AZ)
Theodore Roosevelt Dam (AZ)

Name	State	Stream	Owner	Purpose	Year completed	Reservoir	Reservoir capacity	Capacity (MW)	Annual generation (MWh)
Alamo Dam	AZ	Bill Williams	USACE	Flood control	1968	Alamo Lake	1,043,000 acre.ft (1,286,500 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Bartlett Dam	AZ	Verde	USBR	Flood control Irrigation	1939	Bartlett Lake	176,186 acre.ft (217,318 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Coolidge Dam	AZ	Gila	BIA	Flood control Irrigation	1930	San Carlos Lake	910,000 acre.ft (1,122,400 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Horse Mesa Dam	AZ	Salt	USBR	Hydropower Regulation	1927	Apache Lake	245,138 acre.ft (302,367 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&0129.&&&&&0129	126,900
Horseshoe Dam	AZ	Verde	USBR	Flood control Regulation	1946	Horseshoe Lake	131,500 acre.ft (162,200 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Mormon Flat Dam	AZ	Salt	USBR	Hydropower Regulation	1925	Canyon Lake	57,852 acre.ft (71,358 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&&060.&&&&&060	65,400
New Waddell Dam	AZ	Agua Fria	USBR	Irrigation Municipal	1994	Lake Pleasant	1,108,600 acre.ft (1,367,409 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&&045.&&&&&045	?
Painted Rock Dam	AZ	Gila	USACE	Flood control	1960	Painted Rock Reservoir	2,491,700 acre.ft (3,073,400 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Sand Hollow Dam	UT	Offstream	WCWCD	Irrigation Municipal	2002	Sand Hollow Reservoir	51,360 acre.ft (63,350 dam³)	N/A	N/A
Stewart Mountain Dam	AZ	Salt	USBR	Hydropower Regulation	1930	Saguaro Lake	69,765 acre.ft (86,052 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&&013.&&&&&013	57,700
Theodore Roosevelt Dam	AZ	Salt	USBR	Flood control Hydropower Irrigation Municipal	1911	Theodore Roosevelt Lake	2,910,200 acre.ft (3,589,600 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&&036.&&&&&036	123,900
Total							9,195,301 acre.ft (11,342,000 dam³)	&&&&&&&&&&&&0283.&&&&&0283	373,900

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List of dams in the Colorado River system Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.