The Barre Falls Dam is located on the

Ware River The Ware River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 river in central Massachusetts. It has two forks, its West Branch, which begins in Hubbardston, Massa ...

Barre, Massachusetts Barre ( ) is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,530 at the 2020 census. History Originally called the Northwest District of Rutland, it was first settled by Europeans in 1720. The town was incorpora ...

, about 0.3 mile (0.48 km) below the junction of the river's east and west branches and 13 miles (21 km) northwest of

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

. Designed and constructed by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

, this dam substantially reduces flooding along the

Ware Ware may refer to: People * Ware (surname) * William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian Places Canada * Fort Ware, British Columbia United Kingdom * Ware, Devon *Ware, Hertfordshire * Ware, Kent United States * Ware, Elmore County ...

, Chicopee, and

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

rivers. Construction of the project began in May 1956 with completion in July 1958 at a cost of US$2 million. The Barre Falls reservoir is located within the Upper Ware River Watershed and is part of the

Chicopee River Watershed The Chicopee River is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Connecticut River in the Pioneer Valley, Massachusetts, known for fast-moving wate ...

. Access to the site is available from Route 62.

Description

The project consists of an earth fill dam with stone slope protection 885 feet (269.7 m) long and 69 feet (21.03 m) high. There are three dikes totaling 3,215 feet (979.93 m) in length with a maximum elevation of 48 feet (14.64 m). Cut in rock, the spillway comprises a concrete weir 60 ft (18.28 m). in length. The weir's crest elevation is 23 feet (7.0 m) lower than the top of the dam. There is no lake at the Barre Falls Dam. The flood storage area for the project, which is normally empty, stores floodwaters and covers about in the towns of

Barre Barre or Barré may refer to: * Barre (name) or Barré, a surname and given name Places United States * Barre, Massachusetts, a New England town ** Barre (CDP), Massachusetts, the central village in the town * Barre, New York, a town * Barre (ci ...

, Hubbardston,

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

, and

Oakham Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...

, Massachusetts. The entire project, including all associated lands, covers . The Barre Falls Dam can store up to of water for flood control purposes. This is equivalent to 8.2 inches (20.82 cm) of water covering its drainage area of 55 square miles (142.45 square kilometers).

Management

The

Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, situated in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is best known for its parks and parkways. The DCR's mission is ...

manage and preserve the land for water quality protection. The

Massachusetts Water Resources Authority The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) is a public authority in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that provides wholesale drinking water and sewage services to certain municipalities and industrial users in the state, primarily in th ...

manages these water resources, which are part of the public water supply for the

Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern ar ...

area. The Corps assists the MWRA by coordinating flows to maximize diversion rates, and the MWRA assists the Corps when requested to divert excess flows to help with flood control. Camping, swimming and wading are not permitted. However, there is an 18-hole

disc golf Disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target; it is played using rules similar to golf. Most disc golf discs are made out of polypropylene plastic, otherwise known as polypropene, which ...

course which spans much of the premises.

References

Barre Falls Dam specifications

Mass Central Rail Trail. Rails To Trails conversion on the Central Mass line, which was rerouted during dam construction

{{Massachusetts Dams in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Barre, Massachusetts United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Dams completed in 1959