The Army Corps of Engineers built this flood control dam on the Salt River in 1984, forming a twenty mile long impoundment called Mark Twain Lake. The powerhouse at the dam has two reversible pump/turbines, capable of producing a total of 58 megawatts. When reversed, they lift water out of the river back into the reservoir. Mark Twain is associated with the Mississippi River town of Hannibal, 20 miles away, but he was born in the town of Florida, much of which was submerged by the construction of the reservoir.