[1][2] The dam was conceived as early as 1913, but it was not until the 1930s when a regional drought caused crop failures that the project received widespread support from farmers.

[3] Built from 1946 to 1949, the dam is part of the Angostura Division of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, and is operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

The service area lies along 24 miles (39 km) of the Cheyenne River below the dam, and is supplied by the Angostura Canal, which has a diversion capacity of 290 cubic feet per second (8.2 m3/s).

With 36 miles (58 km) of shoreline and 4,706 acres (1,904 ha) of water,[5] the reservoir is stocked with several species of fish, including walleye, smallmouth bass and crappie.

[6] The Angostura Recreation Area operated by the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and Parks surrounds the lake.