The Ute Ulay Mining Complex is located along the Alpine Loop Scenic Byway just south of Lake City, Colorado. The Ute Ulay mining claims were discovered in 1871 and were one of the biggest producers of gold and silver in the San Juan Mountains. The Bureau of Land Management Gunnison Field Office has partnered with Hinsdale County to promote heritage tourism and has stabilized and preserved several structures within the mining complex. Ute Ulay was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. The wooden water tank was filled by the flume from the Ute Ulay Dam. The water tank supplied water to the hydropower plant through three vertical pipes to three Leffel turbine water wheels that powered the electrical generating equipment in the power plant. The water tank was constructed in 1926 along with the dam, flume, and hydropower plant.