Bonny Dam (National ID # CO01300) is a dam in

Yuma County, Colorado Yuma County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,988. The county seat is Wray. Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and ( ...

, in the eastern part of the state. The earthen dam was constructed between 1948 and 1951 by the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

, with a height of 158 feet and 9200 feet long at its crest. It impounds the South Fork of the

Republican River The Republican River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, rising in the High Plains (United States), High Plains of eastern Colorado and flowing east U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline ...

for flood control, irrigation storage and recreation, as part of the Bureau's extensive Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program. The dam is owned and operated by the Bureau. The reservoir it creates, Bonny Reservoir, was drained in 2011. It formerly had a water surface area of over 2000 acres, a maximum capacity of 170,160

acre-feet The acre-foot is a non- SI unit of volume equal to about commonly used in the United States in reference to large-scale water resources, such as reservoirs, aqueducts, canals, sewer flow capacity, irrigation water, and river flows. An acre-f ...

, and a shoreline of about 15 miles. All water was released downstream to flow across the Kansas state border, about six miles to the east, to satisfy a May 2003

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

decision on a dispute arising from the Republican River Compact. In September and October 2011, Bonny Lake was drained and many of the Bonny Lake State Park's services were eliminated, including the fishery and the visitors' center. The dam structure remains. The park is now being operated as part of the South Republican River State Wildlife Area.

References

{{authority control Dams in Colorado Reservoirs in Colorado United States Bureau of Reclamation dams Buildings and structures in Yuma County, Colorado Dams completed in 1951 Bodies of water of Yuma County, Colorado

See also

References