Design capacity of the canal is 850 cubic feet per second. The Fresno Dam, located on the Milk River 14 miles west of Havre, Montana, is a compacted earthfill dam with a structural height of 110 feet and a crest length of 2,070 feet. It contains 2,105,000 cubic yards of material. The outlet works discharge a maximum of 2,180 cubic feet per second through two 72-inch steel pipe outlet tubes. A conservation storage of 103,000 acre-feet is impounded in Fresno Reservoir.
Provision also is made for flood control benefits.
Paradise Diversion Dam Paradise Diversion Dam was constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation to replace a rock, log, and brush dam destroyed by floodwaters in June 1965. The dam, located on the Milk River near Chinook, Montana, diverts water for irrigation in the Paradise Valley Irrigation District. Crest elevation of the spillway is 2390.5 ft. A cableway with winch-operated cable car, used for maintenance and placement of flashboards when required, spans the spillway section of the dam. The Dodson Diversion Dam on Milk River 5 miles West of Dodson, Montana, is a timber crib, weir-type structure with movable crest gates, and an earthfill dike section.