Mud Mountain Dam
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Mud Mountain Dam is a dam in
King County, Washington King County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of counties in Washington, most populo ...
, a few miles southeast of Enumclaw. The dam impounds the White River and is used for
flood control Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...
. The dam was finished in 1948 by the
United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...
, although the project had been authorized by an act of Congress in June 1936. Construction had begun in 1939 and was delayed by World War II. At 432 feet high, it was the highest rock- and earth-filled dam in the world at its completion. Mud Mountain Dam protects the lower White and Puyallup River valleys from flooding by holding back water from heavy rains or excessive snow melt and slowly releasing it downstream. From the 1870s local farmers of King and Pierce County competed for water from the White River, dealing not only with periodic flooding but with changes in its channel, notably in 1906 when the White permanently broke through to the shorter, southward channel of the Stuck River. Consultation with the engineer
Hiram M. Chittenden Hiram Martin Chittenden (October 25, 1858 – October 9, 1917) was an American engineer and historian. A graduate of West Point, he was the Seattle district engineer for the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Army Corps of Engineers fro ...
eventually led to the decision to dam the river. The created reservoir, Mud Mountain Lake, is a riverine, marshy intermittent lake. The lake is usually dry except for the normal flow of the White River, but it fills with water during periods of high flow. The Corps of Engineers operates a day-use park at the dam site, the Mud Mountain Recreational Area, with picnic facilities, interpretive exhibits, and ten miles of hiking trails.


References


External links


Official website

on Mud Mountain Dam Recreational Area
{{authority control Dams in Washington (state) Reservoirs in Washington (state) United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Dams completed in 1948 Lakes of King County, Washington