Smithville Lake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Smithville Lake | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Missouri |
| Coordinates | |
| Lake type | reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Little Platte branch of the Platte River |
| Primary outflows | Little Platte branch of the Platte River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 7,190 acres (29.1 km²) |
| Shore length1 | 175 miles (282 km) |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Smithville Lake is a manmade 7,190-acre (29 km²) reservoir on the Little Platte branch of the Platte River (Missouri) near Smithville, Missouri.
The lake was built and is administered by the Kansas City office of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (which includes all of Missouri and Kansas as well as small portions of Nebraska and Iowa). According to its website the lake is 10th in size of the corp lakes in the district but third in terms of shoreline.
It provides the water supply for Smithville, Missouri and Plattsburg, Missouri. Kansas City, Missouri has reserved a portion for its water supply.
It has 5,000 acres (20 km²) of public land and 175 miles (282 km) of shoreline.
The lake was authorized in 1965. Construction began in 1972 with the dam being completed in 1977. Impoundment began in 1979.
The Jerry L. Litton Visitor Center by the dam tells the history of the area as well as has memorabilia about the Congressman who died in a plane crash on election night after winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 1976.
