Townshend Lake is located on the West River, a tributary to the Connecticut River, as part of a network of flood control projects in the Upper Connecticut River Basin. Construction began in 1958 and was completed in 1961 at a cost of $7.5 million dollars.
The reservoir can store up to 11 billion gallons of floodwater. During the heavy rains of April 1987, the flood storage area upstream of the dam was filled to capacity and excess water had to be discharged over the spillway. Over the years, many lives and millions of dollars in damages have been saved. Coordination, timing, and careful decision making based on historical data and forecasting are the key elements to successful flood control operations.
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Townshend Dam (National ID # VT00004) is a dam in Townshend, Windham County, Vermont.
The earthen dam was constructed in 1961 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers with a height of 126 feet and a length of 1700 feet at its crest. It impounds Vermont's West River for flood control and seasonal storm water management. The dam is owned and operated by the Corps of Engineers.
The riverine reservoir it creates, Townshend Lake, has a normal water surface of 95 acres, a maximum storage capacity of 54,300 acre-feet, and a normal storage capacity of 800 acre-feet. Recreation includes fishing (for smallmouth bass, brown and rainbow trout), boating and hiking, along with facilities at the nearby Townshend State Park.
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