Vallecito Dam (National ID # CO01695) is a dam in
La Plata County, Colorado
La Plata County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 55,638. The county seat is Durango. The county was named for the La Plata River and the La Plata Mountains. "La plata" means "the si ...
about northeast 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 ...
.
Trees were cleared for the reservoir by the
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...
. The earthen dam was constructed in 1940 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 , and a length at its crest of .
It impounds the
Los Pinos River
Los Pinos River is a tributary of the San Juan River in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico in the United States. The stream flows from a source near Weminuche Pass in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado to a confluence with the San Juan ...
for irrigation water storage. The dam is owned by the Bureau and is operated by the local Pine River Irrigation District.
The reservoir it creates, Vallecito Reservoir, has a water surface of and a maximum capacity of .
Recreational opportunities include fishing, hunting, boating, camping and hiking.
References
External links
Online recreation page*
{{authority control
Dams in Colorado
Reservoirs in Colorado
United States Bureau of Reclamation dams
Buildings and structures in La Plata County, Colorado
Dams completed in 1940
Dams in the Colorado River basin
Bodies of water of La Plata County, Colorado