Lahontan Dam and reservoir are part of the Newlands Project, one of the first irrigation projects selected for construction following passage of the Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902. In 1905 it became the first to deliver water from works constructed by the United State Government.

The project diverts and stores water from the Truckee and Carson River Basins to irrigate lands near Fallon and to produce hydroelectric power. Water from these irrigated lands flow and forms the Stillwater Wildlife Management Area. Which is one of the finest waterfowl areas in Nevada? Drainage water from the irrigated lands flow into the Stillwater Wildlife Management Area, one of the finest waterfowl areas in Nevada.

Here also is a dam that was completed in 1915 it is 162 feet high, 1,700 feet long at the top, and contains 733.00 cubic yards of earth fill. The reservoir has a storage capacity of 274,000 acre-feet when full. The reservoir was named after the Ancient Lake Lahontan which covered over 8,500 square miles of the western Great Basin during the Ice Age. Its ancient shore terraces may be seen high on the mountainsides of the surrounding region.

Lahontan became a Nevada State Recreation Area on July 1, 1971. Previous to that time it was operated jointly by Churchill and Lyon Counties.