In 1990, Born With A Tooth attempted to use an excavator to divert the river away from the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District canal intake.
When the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrived, Born With A Tooth fired his rifle twice.
Ultimately, he was convicted of assault and several other offences and spent four and a half years in prison.
Since 2003, ATCO has operated the Oldman River Hydroelectric Plant at the dam.
The plant is capable of producing 32 megawatts of electrical power; the average annual generation is approximately 114 gigawatt-hours per year.