In 1948, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finished construction of a dam on the Smoky Hill for flood control in southeastern Ellsworth County creating Kanopolis Lake. In 1951, the United States Bureau of Reclamation completed another dam on the river, for irrigation and flood control, in southeastern Trego County, Kansas, which created Cedar Bluff Reservoir.
In 1948 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finished construction of a dam on the Smoky Hill for flood control in southeas,tern Ellsworth County creating Kanopolis Lake. In 1951, the United States Bureau of Reclamation completed another dam on the river, for irrigation and flood control, in southeastern Trego County, Kansas, which created Cedar Bluff Reservoir.