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Location: Near Pierre, S.D., River Mile 1,072.3

Surrounded by the rolling prairies of the Dakotas, Lake Oahe is the fourth largest man-made lake in the United States, stretching 230 miles from Pierre, South Dakota to Bismarck, North Dakota.  

The dam consists of an earthen embankment, an outlet structure with six tunnels for releasing stored water, a powerhouse, and eight spillway gates on a concrete-lined spillway. During normal operations, USACE releases water through the powerhouse to generate power and balance reservoir levels for other uses. As operations shift to reducing flood risks during periods of high runoff, water also is released through the outlet structure and if needed, USACE dam operators can release more water through the spillway gates. More information about the project’s features is available here.

The dam and reservoir provide many benefits to the local and regional public and to the nation. These include reducing the loss of life and property damage from floods, recreation, producing hydropower, and providing water for municipal and industrial uses. The storage and release of water also benefits recreation, irrigation, water quality, fish and wildlife, and commercial navigation. The Oahe powerhouse produces an average of 2.7 billion Kilowatt Hours of electricity a year.

Lake Oahe is the fourth largest reservoir in the country and provides ample room for the 2 million annual visitors who access the lake from over 50 recreation areas. Water-based recreation ranges from power sports like pleasure boating, skiing, and tubing while isolated bays and shorelines provide quiet, protected areas for paddleboards and kayaks.

Campgrounds, boat ramps, and day use areas are spread around the lake and range from primitive to modern. Recreational areas managed by the Corps of Engineers include Beaver Creek, Cattail Bay, and Hazelton Campgrounds and Boat Ramps, Kimball Bottoms Off Road Vehicle Area, and parts of the Oahe Downstream. The remainder of the areas are managed by tribal, state, and other local agencies.

This oasis in the prairie with locally diverse habitats attracts an abundance of wildlife for sightseers and bird watchers. Bald eagles frequent all areas of the lake and congregate below the dam overwinter, and the lake provides many rare bird sightings for the Dakotas. The lake shore, sandbars and islands provide nesting and chick rearing habitat for the endangered least tern and threatened piping plover.  These little birds have a precarious life trying to survive through water level changes, storms, predators, and human disturbance.  Visitors are requested to avoid recreating in areas with nesting birds.

Additional information about nearby activities, camping, day use, and reservations are available here.

Tours of the Oahe powerhouse are typically offered during the summer months or by appointment. As of now, tours are not being offered. Updated information will be provided when tours resume.

Questions can be directed to the USACE Lake Oahe Project at 605-224-5862.

During normal operations of Oahe Dam, when the region is not threatened by significant storms, USACE releases up to 54,000 cubic feet of water per second through seven penstock tunnels to generate power and balance reservoir levels for other uses. One cubic foot of water, or cfs, is equal to 7.5 gallons. When reservoir levels are high and operations shift to evacuating flood waters, most often during extreme storms when rain or snowmelt fill the reservoir, dam operators can release additional water through six regulatory outlet tunnels and through the eight spillway gates. Combined, the tunnels can collectively pass 111,000 cubic feet of water per second. The spillway, while not needed yet, is designed to release 304,000 cubic feet of water per second.

For perspective, the largest release of water was 160,000 cubic feet of water per second through the powerhouse and tunnels in June 2011. It is important to understand that the dam is designed to release up to 415,000 cfs when necessary and that dams do not eliminate flood risk.

The banks of the Upper Missouri River around Lake Oahe have a rich history. People have been hunting, fishing, and gathering along these banks for more than 9,000 years. During the 17th and 18th centuries the Arikara and Mandan peoples lived along the bluffs of the Missouri River. They were a sedentary people who grew corn, beans, and squash and lived in large earthlodge villages. The Lakota, of the Great Sioux Nation, also lived and hunted along the banks of the Missouri River, they were semi-nomadic people who hunted buffalo and lived in teepees.

The turn of the 19th century brought much change to the plains and the tribal way of life. The Arikrara and Mandan were displaced and decimated by smallpox epidemics. By the 1830’s Plains Tribes were engaged in the fur trade which was a predominant economic activity on the upper Missouri River. During the second half of the 19th century, the United States military expanded onto the plains, bison herds were destroyed, the American Indian Wars had begun and the reservation system was established.

Historical sites surround Lake Oahe including several military and fur trade forts. Significant forts include Fort Pierre Chouteau which was the largest established on the Upper Missouri, Fort Lincoln where General Custer was stationed, and Fort Manuel Trading Post where Sacajawea, the Shoshone Indian woman who served as a guide for Lewis and Clark, is believed to be buried. The grave site of the revered Lakota Sioux Chief Sitting Bull, is also nearby.