Success Dam Explained

Success Dam
Location Map:California
Location Map Caption:Location of Success Dam in California
Coordinates:36.0606°N -118.9192°W
Country:United States
Location:Porterville, California
Dam Type:Embankment
Dam Height:156feet[1]
Dam Length:3490feet
Dam Volume:5560000yd3
Dam Elevation Crest:652.5feet
Dam Crosses:Tule River
Res Name:Lake Success
Res Capacity Total:82300acre feet
Res Catchment:393mi2
Res Surface:2450acres

Success Dam is a dam across the Tule River in Tulare County, California in the United States. Serving mainly for flood control and irrigation, the dam is an earthen embankment structure 156feet high and 3490feet long. The dam lies about 5miles east of Porterville and impounds Lake Success, which has a capacity of 82300acre feet.[1]

The dam was initially authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1944 as part of an extensive system of dams and levees to provide flood protection in the Tulare Lake basin of the southern San Joaquin Valley.[2] The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) began construction of Success Dam in 1958 and finished in 1961, with the official dedication on May 18, 1962.[3]

The USACE found in 1999 that the alluvial deposits that form the foundations of the dam were unstable and that the dam would be at a high risk of failure in the event of an earthquake. In 2006, new regulations were passed that limited long-term water storage in the reservoir to 28800acre feet, 35% of capacity.[4] A proposed $500 million project would increase the thickness of the dam by 350feet so that it could better withstand a quake in the region.[5]

In August 2019, the 116th Congress of the United States enacted PL-116-41 which said (in part) that the Success Dam in Tulare County, California, shall hereafter be known and designated as the ‘‘Richard L. Schafer Dam’’. [6]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Success Dam (SCC). California Department of Water Resources. California Data Exchange Center. 2012-04-20.
  2. Web site: Flood Damage Reduction Technical Appendix. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Upper San Joaquin Basin Storage Investigation: Initial Alternatives Information Report. June 2005. 2012-04-20.
  3. Web site: Field Investigations for Design of a Grout Curtain at Success Dam for the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Friend, Edwin R. . Bailey, B.J. . Prochaska, Adam B. . Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists. 2012-04-20.
  4. Web site: Lower Tule Irrigation District Tule River Intertie Project. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. FONSI-09-73. December 2009. 2012-04-20.
  5. News: Chandler, Jenna. Corps settles on potential remedy for Success Dam. Recorder Online. 2009-07-09. 2012-04-20.
  6. http://www.congress.gov/116/plaws/publ41/PLAW-116publ41.pdf