Pueblo Dam

Lake Pueblo and the Pueblo Dam were constructed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, in which waters are diverted from the western slope of the Continental Divide and transferred down the Arkansas River to the east. The Fryingpan-Arkansas Project was approved by the U.S. Congress in 1962, and President John F. Kennedy came to Pueblo to proclaim the start of construction the same year.

Lake Pueblo is the principal water storage reservoir in the Project. Its waters are used for irrigation, drinking and recreation, and it provides flood control to the Pueblo community. Following several years of drought conditions, water levels were quite low in the reservoir at the time of our visit in May 2003. However, significant late winter snowfall and spring rains have raised hope that Colorado's drought may have ended.