Granby Dam (National ID # CO01656) is an
earthfill dam that dams the
Colorado River
The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...
northeast of
Granby, Colorado
The Town of Granby is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory town, Statutory Town that is the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Grand County, Colorado, Grand County, Colorado, United States. The town pop ...
in
Grand County, Colorado
Grand County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,717. The county seat is Hot Sulphur Springs, and the largest community is Granby.
History
When Grand County was created on Febru ...
. This -tall dam was constructed between 1941 and 1950 and has a drainage area of . The Granby Dam's reservoir is known as
Lake Granby, the largest reservoir component of the
Colorado-Big Thompson Project. Lake Granby stores Colorado River water that is diverted under the Continental Divide for agriculture and municipal use within north-eastern Colorado including the cities of Boulder, Fort Collins, Loveland, and Greeley. In addition to the waters of the Colorado, water from Willow Creek just below the dam is pumped up to Lake Granby. Water from Lake Granby is pumped higher by the Granby Pumping Plant to the Granby Pump Canal, which extents to
Shadow Mountain Lake, from which water is diverted through the Alva B. Adams Tunnel to the East Slope.
This damsite does not generate any power directly; power is generated at other locations in the Colorado-Big Thompson Project.
References
External links
USBR Granby Dam Website
Dams on the Colorado River
Dams in Colorado
Buildings and structures in Grand County, Colorado
United States Bureau of Reclamation dams
Dams completed in 1950
Earth-filled dams
{{US-dam-stub