Designed by the State Rivers & Water Supply Commission of Victoria, construction commenced in 1973 and was completed in 1979 by Thiess Brothers, at a cost of A$179 million.

The reservoir's inflow and outflow capacity is quite small considering its size, meaning that its levels vary little compared with some other dams on the Murray and their tributaries.

[6] On 2 May 1990, the 180 MW Francis turbine-generator running at full speed was instantaneously stopped by a foreign body left in the penstock following maintenance.

[7] The installation shifted about 2 m within the base of the 180-metre-high (590 ft) earth and rock fill gravity dam wall of the 3,906 GL reservoir.

After initial consternation regarding the integrity of the wall, declared safe after lengthy assessment), the hydro installation was repaired/replaced, but was off-line for several years.

More significantly, it would have resulted in the over-topping and probable failure of the earthen walls of the 40-metre-high (130 ft), 3,038 GL Lake Hume, 200 km downstream on the Murray River.

Cold water pollution caused by Dartmouth Dam is also considered to have contributed to the disappearance of the freshwater catfish from the upper reaches of the Murray River.

[9] Climate data for the region are sourced at the bottom of the dam wall, in a relatively sheltered spot at 365 metres (1,198 ft) above sea level.