Baldhill Dam is a dam in
Barnes County,
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, ...
, about 10 miles north-northwest of
Valley City in the eastern part of the state.
The earthen and concrete dam was constructed in 1951 by the
with three
tainter gate
The Tainter gate is a type of radial arm floodgate used in dams and canal locks to control water flow. It is named for Wisconsin structural engineer Jeremiah Burnham Tainter.
A side view of a Tainter gate resembles a slice of pie with the ...
s, a height of 60 feet, and 1800 feet in length at its crest. It impounds the
Sheyenne River for irrigation water storage and for flood control. The dam is owned and operated by the Corps of Engineers,
St. Paul District.
The reservoir it creates, Lake Ashtabula, is a riverine lake oriented north to south, about 27 miles long. The name "Ashtabula" is a Native American word meaning "Fish River." It has a water surface area of 5,234 acres, a maximum capacity of 156,000
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 acr ...
; and normal storage of 69,500 acre-feet.
[http://findlakes.com/lake_ashtabula_north-dakota~nd00309.htm , Find Lakes website] Popular for recreation, Lake Ashtabula contains walleye, northern pike, white bass, yellow perch and black bullheads. The Corps of Engineers maintains seven recreation areas around the lake.
References
External links
*
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Lake Ashtabula ProjectRecreation.gov Website for Lake AshtabulaLake Ashtabula Recreation Brochure
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Dams in North Dakota
Reservoirs in North Dakota
United States Army Corps of Engineers dams
Buildings and structures in Barnes County, North Dakota
Embankment dams
Dams completed in 1951
Bodies of water of Barnes County, North Dakota