Construction of the dam and its associated facilities began in 1951 and continued until 1967, although the dam became operational in 1954. The dam, located in the Canyon of the Nechako River, is a rock-filled, clay-core dam measuring 97 metres high and 457 metres wide (at the top). Construction involved over 3 million cubic metres of material.Nechako Canyon Protected Area BC Parks. Accessed 9 March 2012. Concrete was injected in bedrock fissures below the dam to stabilize the foundation.Reservoir and Dam Royal BC Museum. Accessed: 16 February 2012. Until the W. A. C. Bennett Dam was built on the Peace River in the 1960s, the Kenney Dam was the largest rockfill dam in the world. The dam was named for the Hon. Edward Tourtellotte Kenney, then-Minister of Lands and Forests in the government of Premier Byron Johnson.
