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
McPhee Reservoir and dam, 2013
Location of McPhee Reservoir in Colorado, USA.
Location of McPhee Reservoir in Colorado, USA.
McPhee Reservoir
Location of McPhee Reservoir in Colorado, USA.
Location of McPhee Reservoir in Colorado, USA.
McPhee Reservoir
LocationMontezuma County, Colorado
Coordinates37°34′39″N 108°34′20″W
Typereservoir
Primary outflowsDolores River
Basin countriesUnited States
Water volume381,051 acre⋅ft (470,019,000 m3)
Surface elevation6,929 ft (2,112 m)[1]
SettlementsMcPhee, Colorado, a ghost town beneath the lake

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.[2]

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[3] completed in 1985 across Dolores Canyon.

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.[4]

See also

References
  1. "McPhee Reservoir". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. Mausolf, Lisa (August 1981). "Town of McPhee" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 27, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2014.
  3. "McPhee Dam". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  4. "Irrigation: McPhee Dam & Reservoir". Dolores Water Conservancy District. Retrieved December 3, 2019.


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