Project
Description
The San Vicente Dam Raise is part of the Emergency Storage Project, a system of reservoirs, interconnected pipelines, and pumping stations designed to make water available to the San Diego region in the event of an interruption in imported water deliveries.
San Vicente Dam currently stands at 220 feet and can store up to 90,000 acre-feet of water. The dam raise project will increase the height of the dam by 117 feet, more than doubling the capacity of the reservoir.
The first 54 feet of the dam
raise will provide 52,000 acre-feet of water storage capacity for use
in an emergency – enough water to supply 104,000 typical households
for a year. This portion of the project was approved along with other
Emergency Storage Project facilities in 1996.
The remaining 63 feet of the dam raise, bringing the raise to a total
of 117 feet, will allow San Vicente Reservoir to store an additional 100,000
acre-feet of water during wet seasons, when it is plentiful, and then
carry it over for use in subsequent dry years. The environmental study
for this additional raise was certified in April 2008. To view the final
EIR/EIS for this part of the San Vicente Dam Raise project, click
here.
Construction Schedule
Construction of the San Vicente Dam Raise project is scheduled
to begin in summer 2009 and will take about four years. Construction will
take place in multiple phases, as follows:
- Foundation excavation and preparation: summer 2009 – summer 2010
- Dam raise: spring 2010 – late 2012
- Bypass pipeline: late 2011 – late 2012
- New marina construction: 2012
- Site restoration: early 2013
To assure public safety during preparations for construction, the reservoir was closed to boating, fishing, and all other water recreation in September 2008. San Vicente Reservoir will reopen to recreation after construction sometime between 2014 and 2017, as soon as the water level reaches the boat launch ramp at the new marina. The amount of time needed to refill the reservoir will depend on water supply and demand.
The new marina will feature many new improvements once the reservoir is reopened. The Water Authority will improve the reservoir's access road, making it wider and less steep. The boat ramp will be expanded and extended, and the size of the parking area will be increased. Additional shade trees and picnic areas at the marina will provide more options for recreational visitors to the reservoir.
San
Vicente Dam Raise Fact Sheet 
Reservoir
Closure Frequently Asked Questions
New
Marina Rendering
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