The Cochiti Dam is an earthen fill dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

 located on the Rio Grande River in Sandoval County, New Mexico

Sandoval County, New Mexico

-Indian reservations:Sandoval County has 12 Indian reservations and two joint-use areas lying within its borders, the second most of any county in the United States -Indian reservations:Sandoval County has 12 Indian reservations and two joint-use areas lying within its borders, the second most of...

 approximately 50 miles (80.4 km) north of Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. By volume of material, it is the 23rd largest dam in the world at 62,849,000 yd³ (48,052,000 m³) of material, one of the ten largest such dams in the United States, and the eleventh largest such dam in the world. Cochiti Dam is one of the four United States Army Corps of Engineers

United States Army Corps of Engineers

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

 projects for flood and sediment control

Sediment control

A sediment control is a practice or device designed to keep eroded soil on a construction site, so that it does not wash off and cause water pollution to a nearby stream, river, lake, or bay...

 on the Rio Grande system, operating in conjunction with Abiquiu Dam

Abiquiu Lake

Abiquiu Lake is a reservoir located in Rio Arriba County, in northern New Mexico in the southwestern United States. Water of the Rio Chama is impounded by the earth-filled Abiquiu Dam, 1,800 feet long and 340 feet high, completed in 1963 and raised in 1986...

, Galisteo Dam and Jemez Canyon Dam.
Cochiti Dam is primarily a flood control dam built to ameliorate the effects of heavy run off.