[3] The dam spans the Linn County–Marion County border in the Oregon Cascades.

The dam's primary functions are flood control, power generation, irrigation, fish habitat, water quality improvement, and recreation.

It is one of 13 dams created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Willamette Valley Project which was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1938.

Big Cliff smooths river flow resulting from power generation fluctuations of Detroit Dam, a practice known as river re-regulation.

[6] Media related to Big Cliff Dam at Wikimedia Commons