Smithville Lake 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 ...

on the Little Platte branch of the

Platte River The Platte River () is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itsel ...

Clay County, Missouri Clay County is located in the U.S. state of Missouri and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 253,335, making it the fifth-most populous county in Missouri. Its county seat is Libe ...

near Smithville. It provides the water supply for

Smithville, Missouri Smithville is a city in Clay and Platte counties in the U.S. state of Missouri and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, along the Little Platte River. The population was 10,406 at the 2020 United States Census. Geography Smithville is ...

and

Plattsburg, Missouri Plattsburg is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Missouri and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area in the western part of the state, within the United States. It developed along the Little Platte River. As of the 2020 c ...

. Kansas City, Missouri has reserved a portion for its water supply. The lake was built and is administered by the Kansas City office of the

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

(which includes all of Missouri and Kansas, as well as small portions of Nebraska and Iowa) primarily for flood control. The lake is 10th largest of Corps lakes in the district, but third in terms of shoreline. It has of public land and of shoreline. Smithville Dam was authorized in 1965. Construction began in 1972 with the dam being completed in 1977. Impoundment began in 1979. The dam is of earthen construction and is 4000 feet long. At its crest it is 105 feet high and contains a maximum capacity of 246,500

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 ...

. It is owned and operated by the Corps of Engineers. 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.

References

Smithville Lake brochure

External links

Official Corps of Engineers site
{{authority control Protected areas of Clay County, Missouri Protected areas of Clinton County, Missouri Buildings and structures in Clay County, Missouri Buildings and structures in Clinton County, Missouri Reservoirs in Missouri Kansas City metropolitan area Dams in Missouri United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Bodies of water of Clay County, Missouri Bodies of water of Clinton County, Missouri