[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 113 (Thursday, July 26, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S5482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                OAHE DAM

 Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize the 50th 
anniversary of construction of the Oahe Dam.
  In December 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved the Flood 
Control Act. This set into motion the construction of several dams 
across South Dakota. Construction on the Oahe Dam commenced in 1948 and 
was completed in 1962. In August of 1962, President John F. Kennedy 
dedicated the dam located in central South Dakota on the Missouri 
River. The dam was a massive endeavor for the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers, standing 245 feet tall with an earth fill volume of 92 
million cubic yards and a concrete fill volume of 1,122,000 yards. The 
reservoir stretches 231 miles to Bismarck, ND. The Oahe Dam is the 14th 
largest manmade reservoir in the world.
  Oahe Dam is beneficial not only to South Dakota but throughout the 
Midwest. The powerplant on the dam is the largest producer of energy on 
the Missouri River. North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, 
and Montana receive power produced by the Oahe Dam. Local farmers and 
ranchers benefit from the irrigation that is provided from the 
reservoir.
  I would like to recognize the efforts of all those who have 
contributed to the construction and maintenance of the Oahe Dam. It has 
become one of South Dakota's greatest resources.

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