Lake Nighthorse is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

created by the high Ridges Basin Dam southwest of

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

in La Plata County Colorado. As part of the Animas-La Plata Water Project, Lake Nighthorse provides water storage for tribal and water right claim-holders along the

Animas River Animas River (''On-e-mas''; es, Río de las Ánimas) is a river in the western United States, a tributary of the San Juan River (Colorado River), San Juan River, part of the Colorado River, Colorado River System. The Animas-La Plata Water Pro ...

History

First authorized by the U.S. Congress on September 30, 1968 (Public Law 90-537), the Animas-La Plata Water Project, as it came to be known, experienced a few decades of delays due in part to political concerns, farming claims, environmental challenges, cost overruns and government funding issues. A breakthrough to the delays came with the Colorado Ute Settlement Act Amendments in December 2000 (Public Law 106–554). The Bureau of Reclamation began construction in 2003, with the reservoir filling to capacity on June 29, 2011, at a total cost of $500 million. Lake Nighthorse is named in honor of former United States Senator

Ben Nighthorse Campbell Ben Nighthorse Campbell (born April 13, 1933) is an American Cheyenne politician who represented Colorado's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993, and as a United States Senator from Colorado f ...

, R-Colo. Lake Nighthorse covers Sacred Ridge, a former multiple habitation archaeological site.

Recreation and marinas

The lake is open as of April 1, 2018 for recreation, fishing and boating. It has been stocked with kokanee salmon, rainbow trout and brown trout.

References

{{authority control Nighthorse Bodies of water of La Plata County, Colorado Buildings and structures in La Plata County, Colorado