Stampede Dam
dam on the Little Truckee River in Sierra County, California, United States

Stampede Dam (National ID # CA10192) is a dam in Sierra County, California, impounding the Little Truckee River.
The earthen and rock-filled dam was constructed in 1970 (1970), at 239 feet (73 m) high and 1,511 feet (461 m) long at the crest. It was a project of the United States Bureau of Reclamation, not primarily for flood control or irrigation storage as usual, but for fishery enhancement, primarily to facilitate the spawning of the critically endangered species cui-ui fish downstream. The dam is owned and operated by the Bureau.
The reservoir it creates, Stampede Reservoir, has a water surface elevation of 5,955 feet (1,815 m) and an area of about 3,340 acres (1,350 ha) and about 25 miles (40 km) of shoreline, with a maximum capacity of 226,500 acre-feet (279,400,000 m3). Recreation includes fishing (for kokanee salmon, rainbow, brook, brown and lake (mackinaw) trout, etc.), hunting, boating, camping and hiking. There is an accessible viewing platform at Stampede Vista Point.
The public source identifies “Stampede Dam” as dam on the Little Truckee River in Sierra County, California, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Stampede, Little and Truckee.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Stampede Dam”, the useful work is to connect “dam on the Little Truckee River in Sierra County, California, United States” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7597477. Authority coordinates are 39.475, -120.104. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1970.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “Stampede Dam” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.