The
American Falls Dam is a concrete gravity-type
dam located near the town of
American Falls,
Idaho, on
river mile 714.7 of the
Snake River. The dam and reservoir are a part of the
Minidoka Project on the
Snake River Plain and are used primarily for flood control, irrigation, and recreation. When the original dam was built by the
Bureau of Reclamation, the residents of American Falls were forced to relocate three-quarters of their town to make room for the reservoir. A second dam was completed in 1978 and the original structure was demolished. Although the dam itself is located in
Power County, its reservoir also stretches northeastward into both
Bingham County and
Bannock County.