Box Butte Dam

Box Butte Dam
Location of Box Butte Dam in Nebraska Box Butte Dam (the United States)
Country	United States
Location	Dawes County, Nebraska
Coordinates	42°27′18″N 103°04′38″W
Status	Operational
Opening date	1946
Built by	United States Bureau of Reclamation
Dam and spillways
Height	87 ft (27 m)
Length	5,508 ft (1,679 m)
Reservoir
Creates	Box Butte Reservoir
Total capacity	31,060 acre⋅ft (38,310,000 m3)
Surface area	1,600 acres (650 ha)
Normal elevation	4,000 ft (1,220 m)

Box Butte Dam (National ID # NE01069) is a dam in the arid northwestern panhandle area of Dawes County, Nebraska.

The earthen dam was constructed from 1941 through 1946 by the United States Bureau of Reclamation with a structural height of 87 feet (27 m) and 5,508 feet (1,679 m) long at its crest. It impounds the Niobrara River for flood control, part of the Bureau's Mirage Flats Project for irrigation water storage. No hydroelectric power is produced here.

The reservoir it creates, Box Butte Reservoir, has a water surface of 1,600 acres (650 ha), 612 acres (248 ha) of surrounding land, about 14 miles (23 km) of shoreline, and a capacity of 31,060 acre-feet (38,310,000 m³). Recreation includes fishing (for northern pike, walleye, largemouth bass, yellow perch, and channel cat), hunting, boating, camping and hiking.

The southern shore of the lake borders the Box Butte Reservoir State Recreation Area.