Townshend Lake is part of a network of flood control projects in the Connecticut River Basin. Constructed in 1961 at a cost of $7.5 million dollars, it is operated and maintained by the U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers.

The reservoir can store up to 11 billion gallons of floodwater. During April of 1987, the flood storage area upstream of the dam was filled to capacity and excess water had to be discharged over the spillway. Over the years, many lives and millions of dollars in damages have been saved. Coordination, timing, and careful decision making based on historical data and forecasting are the key elements to successful flood control operations.

The Reservoir Control Center (https://rsgis.crrel.usace.army.mil/NE/pls/cwmsweb/cwms_realtime.ProjectPage?gagecode=TSD) provides information about river flows, dam operations, snow depths, recreational water releases, and more.