Oahe Dam Oahe Dam The Oahe Dam is a large earthen dam on the Missouri River, just north of Pierre, South Dakota, United States. The dam creates Lake Oahe, the fourth largest man-made reservoir in the United States. The reservoir stretches up the course of the Missouri to Bismarck, North Dakota. The dam's power plant provides electricity for much of the north-central United States. It is named for the Oahe Indian Mission established among the Lakota Sioux in 1874. The project provides flood control, Hydropower generation, irrigation, and navigation benefits. Oahe Dam is one of six Missouri River mainstem dams, the next
Lake Oahe Rock Indian Reservation brought a petition to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and sued for an injunction to stop the project. On December 4, 2016 USACE denied the easement that "would allow the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe" and Jo-Ellen Darcy, the United States Assistant Secretary of the Army "said she based her decision on a need to explore alternate routes for the Dakota Access Pipeline crossing." Darcy said "that the consideration of alternative routes would be best accomplished through an Environmental Impact Statement with full public input and analysis." President Trump soon thereafter issued