Buffumville Dam is located 1.3 miles above the point where the Little River flows into the French River. Completed at a cost of $3 million, the dam is part of a system of six flood control projects designed and built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Thames River Basin. This system controls flooding from Oxford, Massachusetts, to Long Island Sound. To date, Buffumville Dam has prevented damages of $26.8 million.

Buffumville Lake has a peak storage capacity of 5.2 billion gallons to minimize downstream flooding. At maximum storage, the flood control pool rises 42 feet above the normal recreation pool. This flood water is stored on approximately 500 acres of public land. The U.S. Government purchased the rights to store flood waters on another 273 acres of private land. Much of this flood easement lands borders privately-owned Pierpoint Meadows Pond.