Tongue River Dam

map of Tongue River watershed

Tongue River Dam (National ID # MT00002) is a dam in Big Horn County, Montana, a few miles north of the Wyoming state border.

The earthen dam was constructed in the river canyon in 1939, with a height of 91 feet and a length at its crest of 1824 feet.[1] It impounds Montana's north-flowing Tongue River for flood control and irrigation water storage. The dam and reservoir are owned and operated by the state of Montana's Department of Natural Resources.

The 12-mile-long riverine reservoir it creates, Tongue River Reservoir, has a normal water surface of 5.5 square miles, a maximum capacity of 150,000 acre-feet, and normal storage of 69,400 acre-feet.[2] Recreation includes boating, fishing (for bass, crappie, walleye and northern pike), camping (at more than 150 campsites), etc., in the Tongue River Reservoir State Park.[3] For white-water rafters the Tongue is a Class I river from the Dam downstream (northward) to its confluence with the Yellowstone River.[4]

References

  1. ↑ http://findlakes.com/tongue_river_dam_montana~mt00002.htm
  2. ↑ http://findlakes.com/tongue_river_dam_montana~mt00002.htm
  3. ↑ http://stateparks.mt.gov/tongue-river-reservoir/
  4. ↑ http://fwp.mt.gov/content/getItem.aspx?id=24929 Stream Access in Montana

Coordinates: 45°07′51″N 106°45′59″W / 45.13072°N 106.76634°W