The concrete gravity dam was dedicated on August 12, 1937, as the result of the largest Depression-era Works Progress Administration project in the entire state.
[1] The reservoir it creates, Eau Claire Lake, has a normal surface area of 1.7 square miles, with a maximum capacity of 17,000 acre-feet and normal storage of 7200 acre-feet.
[2] Recreation includes fishing (for musky and walleyed pike), boating and swimming.
[3] The dam is one of several in the Eau Claire – Chippewa Falls metropolitan area on the Eau Claire and Chippewa Rivers.
As of 2010 the possibility of developing hydroelectric power at this dam was being investigated.