Fontenelle Dam was built between 1961 and 1964 on the Green River in southwestern Wyoming. The 139-foot high zoned earthfill dam impounds the 345,360-acre-foot Fontenelle Reservoir. The dam and reservoir are the central features of the Seedskadee Project of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the Fontenelle impoundment primarily …Fontenelle Dam was built between 1961 and 1964 on the Green River in southwestern Wyoming. The 139-foot high zoned earthfill dam impounds the 345,360-acre-foot Fontenelle Reservoir. The dam and reservoir are the central features of the Seedskadee Project of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which manages the Fontenelle impoundment primarily as a storage reservoir for the Colorado River Storage Project. The dam suffered a significant failure in 1965, when the dam's right abutment developed a leak. Emergency releases from the dam flooded downstream properties, but repairs to the dam were successful. However, in 1983 the dam was rated "poor" under Safety Evaluation of Existing Dams criteria, due to continuing seepage, leading to an emergency drawdown. A concrete diaphragm wall was built through the core of the dam to stop leakage.
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