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\ 6. Facts about the John Martin Project: The John Martin Reservoir Project was built by the Corps of Engineers. United States Army. The project was authorized by Congress in the Flood Control Act of June 22, 1936, when the federal responsibility for flood control throughout the country was assigned to the Corps of Engineers. It is located on the Arkansas River, 58 miles upstream from the Colorado- Kansas stateline and 18 miles upstream from the city of Lamar, Colorado. Construction oflhe project began in the fall of 1939, but work was suspended by World War Ll from the spring of 1943 to the spring of 1946. The project was completed in October. 1948, at a cost of about $15 million. The War Department Civil Appropriation Act of June 24. 1940. changed the name of the project from Caddoa Reservoir Project to John Martin Reservoir Project, in honor of the late Congressman John A. Martin ofCo]orado. It is operated by the United States Army Engineer District, Albuquerque. New Mexico. Mr. Russell Smith has been the resident superintendent of the project since October, 1976. The John Martin Reservoir Project isa part of the comprehensive plan for the control offloodsand the development of water resources in the Arkansas River basin. A survey of Ihe reservoir in 1980 shows 260.2HI acre-feet of ~torage capacily above elevation 385 1.85 for flood control and protection 01" the ft:rtile Arkansas River Valley helow the dam. The reservoir also provides 355.225 acre-feet of storage space for conservalion and recreation bdow elevation 3851.85. John Martin Reservoir supplies waler to the irrigated lands below the dam as far downstream as Garden City, Kansas. The top oftheconservat\on pool, excluding recreation storage, is 3.851 feet above mean sea level. which provides 345.271 acre-feet of water for irrigation. Upon request of the Arkansas River Compact Administration. irrigation water for downstream water users is released through the outlet works in the base of the dam. The release of slored flood waters in excess of the conservation and recreation pool or above elevation 3,851.85 feet are planned so that, when combined with flows originating downstream from the dam, the capacity of the channel will not be exceeded. Downstream flood damages prevented by John Martin dam already exceed the cost of the project and the total project benefits (0 date have surpassed the $115 million mark. Recreation and favorable fish and wildlife habitats are derived from this project. With reservoir lands open toall, there are many attractive public use areas for outdoor recreation, water sports, fishing and boating, or just relaxed living. During construction some embankment material was ob- tained from a 75-acre tract of land immediately downstream of the dam. This excavated area. averaging 12 feet deep, filled with water and formed Lake Hasty, center of year-round recreation. John Martin Dam consists of a concrete gravity structure 1,644 feet long and 120 feet high, and an earthfill structure 2,600 feet long. The concrete gravity structure contains a gated spillway provided with sixteen 30 fOOl by 64 foot tainter gates with their operating machinery. There are earthen wing dams on either side of the main dam. The north wing dam is 3,880 feet long, connecting (0 the earthfill structure of the main dam at the north abutment. The south wing dam is 5,807 feet long and connects to the south end of the concrete slructure of the main dam. A bituminous-surfaced roadway. 21 feet wide, extends along the crest of the north wing dam. main dam, and south 9