Built initially for flood control, Lake Ross, the impoundment created by the dam, serves as one of the major potable water supplies for the region.

[4] In the 1980s, the second stage of the dam necessitated a deviation of the Flinders Highway and Mount Isa railway line (which previously ran straight north-south) to be further east.

[citation needed] The spillway gates have increased the dam's capacity by around nine percent, which is about 21,000 megalitres (740×10^6 cu ft) or four months extra supply of water.

[citation needed] The dam's storage was temporarily reduced with the lowering of the spillway to make way for the new floodgates that have now been fitted.

The Haughton pumping station supplies water via a low pressure pipeline to Ross River Dam.