[6] Construction of Webster Dam and Reservoir was approved as part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program.

Contractors started construction in March 1953, but a combination of funding problems and adverse weather caused multiple delays over the following years.

[5] The project's namesake, the small community of Webster, laid within the reservoir's intended basin and had to be relocated roughly 2 miles (3.2 km) to the southeast.

[7] Water storage in the reservoir began May 3, 1956, and the Webster project became formally operational September 1, 1956.

Construction of downstream irrigation infrastructure, including a diversion dam near Woodston, Kansas and the Osborne Canal, began in July 1957 and finished in April 1961.

[5] Webster Reservoir is located in northwestern Kansas on the western edge of the Smoky Hills region of the Great Plains.

Game animals living around the reservoir include deer, ducks, geese, pheasants, quail, and wild turkeys.