The earthen dam was constructed between 1947 and 1951 by the United States Bureau of Reclamation.

[2] It impounds Frenchman Creek for irrigation storage and flood control, part of the Bureau's Frenchman-Cambridge Division of the extensive Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program.

[5] Flows in the Frenchman, and associated releases from Enders Reservoir, have declined over the years.

The primary cause is believed to be the lowering of water table levels due to groundwater irrigation in the Frenchman Basin.

[6] In order to maintain the recreational and wildlife environments on the reservoir, irrigation releases were halted after 2002.