Construction of the facilities for the Belle Fourche Project began in 1905 and had progressed sufficiently by 1908 to permit irrigation water delivery to 12,000 acres. The original project was completed in 1914. Some of the scheduled extensions of the original project were not constructed because of inadequate water supplies and adverse economic conditions.

Belle Fourche Project, including Belle Fourche Diversion Dam, Belle Fourche Dam, Reservoir, and associated project facilities, is operated and maintained by the Belle Fourche Irrigation District at Newell, South Dakota. The Bureau of Reclamation operated and maintained the project before January 1, 1949, when the district assumed the responsibility.