The earthen dam was constructed in 1970 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers with a height of 164 feet (50 m) and 2,820 feet (860 m) long at its crest.

[1] Built solely for flood control and sediment impoundment on Galisteo Creek, with its "long history of violent floods",[2] the main line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad was relocated to accommodate the project.

[3] The dam is owned and operated by the Corps of Engineers.

Its maximum capacity is 152,600 acre-feet (1.9x1011 liters).

Although the approximately five-acre (2.0 ha) site is open to the public for day use, the site is surrounded by private lands and lands of the Kewa Pueblo.