Twin Lakes Dam facts for kids
Twin Lakes Dam (National ID # CO02045) is a dam in Lake County, Colorado, about 13 miles south of Leadville.
The earthen dam was constructed in 1978 by the United States Bureau of Reclamation with a height of 53 feet and a length at its crest of 3150 feet. The dam is owned and operated by the Bureau as one element of its larger "transbasin" Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, which transfers available water from Colorado's West Slope across the Continental Divide to the more arid, and more populated, East Slope.
The reservoir it creates, Twin Lakes, is an enlargement of a natural glacial lake. It has a surface area of 2700 acres and a maximum capacity of 141,000 acre-feet. Recreation includes boating, fishing for trout, and camping at five Forest Service campgrounds in the area (Dexter, Lakeview, Parry Peak, Twin Peaks and White Star).
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. CO-63, "Twin Lakes Dam & Outlet Works, Beneath Twin Lakes Reservoir, T11S, R80W, S22, Twin Lakes vicinity, Lake County, CO", the first Twin Lakes Dam (1898-1989)
