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Dixon  Canyon Dam
ag1a.jpg (29141 bytes)

Statistics

General

  • Region (Map): ............. Great Plains
  • State (Map) ................  Colorado
  • County ......................... Larimer
  • Project: ......................... Colorado-Big Thompson
  • Dam type: .................... Earthfill
  • Location: ..................... 3 mi SE of Fort Collins
  • Watercourse: .............. Offstream storage
  • Reservoir: .................... Horsetooth
  • Construction Date: .....1946-1949
  • National ID Number ... CO01653
  • Hydrologic Unit Code ....

Dimensions

        1 1988 modification raised the dam crest to elev. 5443.0 feet

Hydraulics

  • Normal Water Surface Elev: ................5430.0 ft
  • Hydraulic Height: .................................. 215.0 ft
  • Service Spillway Type:
  •    Uncontrolled  Crest    ..................................No
  •    Morning-Glory ............................................ No
  •    Crest Length    ............................................ NA
  •    Gated      ....................................................... No
  •    Capacity at Elev:  0  ft,                              0 cfs
  • Auxiliary Spillway ......................................... No
  •     Capacity at Elev.   .................................. 0 cfs 
  • Outlet Works Capacity at
  •     Elevation  0 ft.,  ..................................... None

Hydrology

  • Drainage Area: .................................. 17.0 sq mi
  • Hydrometeorological Report               HMR 55
  • Flood Type: ...............................Winter General
  • Storm Duration: ........................................ 72 hrs
  • Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) Report:
  •   Peak Inflow: ...................................... 96,800 cfs
  •   Inflow Volume: ..........................  21,520 acre-ft
  •   Flow Duration: ........................................ 14 hrs
  •   PMF Routing MWS Elev.: ........................ NA
  •   Initial Routing Elev: ........................... 5430.0 ft
  •   Study Date: ............................  December 1982

Power Generation

Narration

 

Geology

The damsite at Dixon Canyon is the center one of three damsite along the East Side if Horsetooth Reservoir.  The canyon was formed by the erosion of a narrow notch through the north-south ridge of tilted Dakota sandstone.  The formations involved are the same as those at Spring Canyon and Soldier Canyon, i.e. the Sundance, Morrison and Dakota.  There are some differences in the thicknesses and intervals especially in the Dakota group.  The rock floor under the dam is mostly Morrison shales and thin limestones with some on the lower and middle Dakota sandstones under the down stream face.  The formations are all dipping downstream at an angle of 23 degrees.  Bedrock is covered by a strip of alluvium down to the bottom of the canyon approximately 200 feet wide.  It widens too more than 400 feet upstream from the centerline.  Nearly all of the slopes on each side are conferred with gravel, soil and boulders except where the harder rocks crop out.

 Other Dams or Dikes which enclose Horsetooth Reservoir

Links

 | Recreation |

 | Dams Located by State | USBR Colorado Dams | South Great Basin Region Dams |

 | Owner: Bureau of Reclamation, Eastern Colorado Area Office,
                   11056 West County Road 18E, Loveland, CO 80537-9711, (970) 667-4410

 | Operator:  Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District,
                       PO Box 679, Loveland, CO 80539, (970) 667-2437

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