Merritt Reservoir

Merritt Dam is a dam in Cherry County, Nebraska, southwest of Valentine, in the north-central part of the state. The 126-foot (38 m) earthen dam impounds the Snake River as it flows along the southern edge of the Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest in the Sandhills. It created Merritt Reservoir in 1964 as a project of the United States Bureau of Reclamation. The reservoir holds almost 75,000 acre⋅ft (93,000,000 m3), with about 44 miles (71 km) of sandy shoreline and 3,000 surface acres (1,200 ha) of water.