McPhee Reservoir


McPhee Reservoir is located in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. It was constructed and is operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Dolores Project, and dams the Dolores River to furnish municipal and irrigation water for Montezuma and Dolores counties and the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Reservation.
McPhee Reservoir is named for McPhee, Colorado, a company town founded by the New Mexico Lumber Company that is now submerged under the reservoir. In 1927, the McPhee sawmill produced over half of Colorado's lumber. The town housed up to 1,500 employees. The sawmill closed in 1946.
The lake itself may be accessed from near Dolores, Colorado, by state highways 145 and 184, and offers various boat-launching facilities, picnic areas, and campgrounds in the McPhee Recreation Area operated by the U.S. Forest Service. The lake fills the lower end of the Dolores Valley, with the dam completed in 1985 across Dolores Canyon.

Dams

The reservoir has two dams. First, McPhee Dam, NID ID CO02707, is a high rockfill and earthen dam that can store up to of water. It was built in 1983 and is wide. The second dam, the Mcphee Great Cut Dike, NID ID CO02707S001, is a high earthen dam. It was built in 1984 and is wide.

McPhee Dam Powerplant

A hydroelectric powerplant operates at the dam. Called the McPhee Dam Powerplant, it uses two turbines to power a 1,300 kilowatt generator. The plant produces 7,170,000 kilowatt-hours annually.