Kansas City, Missouri has reserved a portion for its water supply.

The lake was built and is administered by the Kansas City office of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (which includes all of Missouri and Kansas, as well as small portions of Nebraska and Iowa) primarily for flood control.

It has 5,000 acres (20 km2) of public land and 175 miles (282 km) of shoreline.

At its crest it is 105 feet (32 m) high and contains a maximum capacity of 246,500 acre-feet (304,100,000 m3).

[2] The Jerry L. Litton Visitor Center by the dam tells the history of the area, as well as has memorabilia about the Congressman who died in a plane crash on election night after winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 1976.