Ross Lake and Beaverton's city-owned dam

Beaverton does not own Ross Lake like a private pond, but it does own and operate the dam that creates the lake. The city’s current public-works page says its crew maintains the hydroelectric dam along with Ross Lake and the surrounding parks. A DNR fisheries report puts the impoundment at 294 acres, with a maximum depth of 19 feet and much of the lake shallower than 15 feet.

It really is a river crossroads. The Cedar River and the north, middle, and south branches of the Tobacco River feed Ross Lake, and the Tobacco continues below the dam. Ross Lake Park off M-18 provides a gravel launch, parking, a beach, and picnic space. The city’s parks page is the better place to check current beach monitoring and park details before a visit.

Owning a dam also means owning the repair list. A 2024 city planning document says the dam was damaged during the 2020 flood, insurance-funded repairs were completed, and the hydroelectric generator returned to service in late spring 2023. The county hazard plan classifies Beaverton Dam as a “significant hazard.” As with Chappel Dam, that label describes the possible downstream consequences of a failure, not the dam’s present condition.

The city is also working on a separate Ross Lake ecosystem project involving sediment, flood storage, water quality, habitat, and riverbank or channel work. That is lake and watershed work, not a shorthand label for every dam repair. For a nearby homeowner or buyer, the two city paths divide the job neatly: the ecosystem page tracks lake and watershed work, while Public Works handles the dam’s day-to-day operation.