Cogswell Dam

Last updated
Cogswell Dam
Cogswell.jpg
Satellite view
Relief map of California.png
Red pog.svg
Location of Cogswell Dam in California
CountryUnited States
Location San Gabriel Mountains,
Angeles National Forest,
Los Angeles County,
California
Coordinates 34°14′41″N117°57′55″W / 34.24472°N 117.96528°W / 34.24472; -117.96528
Opening date1935;89 years ago (1935)
Owner(s) Los Angeles County Department of Public Works
Dam and spillways
Type of dam Rock-filled
ImpoundsWest Fork San Gabriel River
Height266 ft (81 m)
Height (foundation)280 ft (85 m) [1]
Length585 ft (178 m)
Spillway capacity59,900 cu ft/s (1,700 m3/s) [1]
Reservoir
CreatesCogswell Reservoir
Total capacity12,234 acre⋅ft (15,090,000 m3)
Catchment area 38.4 sq mi (99 km2)
Surface area146 acres (59 ha)

Cogswell Dam is a rockfill dam on the West Fork of the San Gabriel River in Los Angeles County, California. It is located in the San Gabriel Mountains, northeast of Mount Wilson, and within the Angeles National Forest.

Contents

It forms Cogswell Reservoir, which has a capacity of 8,969 acre-feet (11,063,000 m3). [2]

The dam serves mainly for flood control in conjunction with San Gabriel Dam and Morris Dam downstream. San Gabriel Dam lies 13 miles (21 km) downstream. [3]

Construction

Bonds for the dam's construction were issued in 1924. Construction began in March 1932 and was completed in April 1934, at a total cost of US$3,127,762. [3]

The rock-fill dam, built by the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, is 585 feet (178 m) long, 266 feet (81 m) tall (measured from the stream bed), 18 feet (5.5 m) wide at the top, and contains 1,044,945 cubic yards (798,918 m3) of material. Its crest is 2,412 feet (735 m) above sea level and 27 feet (8.2 m) above the certified water storage elevation. [2]

The dam rests on crystalline granite bedrock. The buttress is 750 feet (230 m) thick at the base, and the height from foundation to crest is 285 feet (87 m). There are concrete cutoff walls and a concrete facing slab on the dam's upstream side. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seven Oaks Dam</span> Dam in near Mentone, California

Seven Oaks Dam is a 550-foot (170 m) high earth and rock fill embankment dam across the Santa Ana River in the San Bernardino Mountains, about 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Redlands in San Bernardino County, southern California. It impounds Seven Oaks Reservoir in the San Bernardino National Forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Gabriel River (California)</span> River in Los Angeles County, California, United States

The San Gabriel River is a mostly-urban waterway flowing 58 miles (93 km) southward through Los Angeles and Orange Counties, California, in the United States. It is the central of three major rivers draining the Greater Los Angeles Area, the others being the Los Angeles River and Santa Ana River. The river's watershed stretches from the rugged San Gabriel Mountains to the heavily-developed San Gabriel Valley and a significant part of the Los Angeles coastal plain, emptying into the Pacific Ocean between the cities of Long Beach and Seal Beach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacoima Dam</span> Dam in Los Angeles County, California

Pacoima Dam is a concrete arch dam on Pacoima Creek in the San Gabriel Mountains, in Los Angeles County, California. The reservoir it creates, Pacoima Reservoir, has a capacity of 3,777 acre⋅ft (4,659,000 m3)

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friant Dam</span> Dam in Madera/Fresno Counties, California

Friant Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the San Joaquin River in central California in the United States, on the boundary of Fresno and Madera Counties. It was built between 1937 and 1942 as part of a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) water project to provide irrigation water to the southern San Joaquin Valley. The dam impounds Millerton Lake, a 4,900-acre (2,000 ha) reservoir about 15 miles (24 km) north of Fresno.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whittier Narrows Dam</span> Dam in California, United States

Whittier Narrows Dam is a 56-foot tall earth dam on the San Gabriel River and the smaller, parallel Rio Hondo. The dam is located, as the name implies, at the Whittier Narrows. It provides water conservation storage and is also the central element of the Los Angeles County Drainage Area (LACDA) flood control system. Its reservoir has a capacity of 67,060 acre⋅ft (82,720,000 m3).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tujunga Wash</span> Stream in Los Angeles County, California, US

Tujunga Wash is a 13-mile-long (20.9 km) stream in Los Angeles County, California. It is a tributary of the Los Angeles River, providing about a fifth of its flow, and drains about 225 square miles (580 km2). It is called a wash because it is usually dry, especially the lower reaches, only carrying significant flows during and after storms, which usually only occur between November and April. The name of the wash derives from a Tongva village name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles flood of 1938</span> 1938 flood in Southern California, United States

The Los Angeles flood of 1938 was one of the largest floods in the history of Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties in southern California. The flood was caused by two Pacific storms that swept across the Los Angeles Basin in February-March 1938 and generated almost one year's worth of precipitation in just a few days. Between 113–115 people were killed by the flooding. The Los Angeles, San Gabriel, and Santa Ana Rivers burst their banks, inundating much of the coastal plain, the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys, and the Inland Empire. Flood control structures spared parts of Los Angeles County from destruction, while Orange and Riverside Counties experienced more damage.

The Sierra Madre Dam is a dam on Little Santa Anita Creek, at the mouth of Little Santa Anita Canyon, in Los Angeles County, California. It is in the San Gabriel Mountains, south of the Angeles National Forest, on the northern border of Sierra Madre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Exchequer Dam</span> Dam in Mariposa County, California

New Exchequer Dam is a concrete–faced, rock-fill dam on the Merced River in central California in the United States. It forms Lake McClure, which impounds the river for irrigation and hydroelectric power production and has a capacity of more than 1,000,000 acre-feet (1.2 km3). The Merced Irrigation District (MID) operates the dam and was also responsible for its construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Fe Dam</span> Dam in Irwindale, California

Santa Fe Dam is a flood-control dam on the San Gabriel River located in Irwindale in Los Angeles County, California, United States. For most of the year, the 92-foot (28 m)-high dam and its reservoir lie empty, but can hold more than 45,000 acre-feet (56,000,000 m3) of water during major storms. During the dry season, the basin behind the dam is used for groundwater recharge, as well as various recreational activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Gabriel Dam</span> Dam in Los Angeles County, California

San Gabriel Dam is a rock-fill dam on the San Gabriel River in Los Angeles County, California, within the Angeles National Forest. Completed in 1939, the dam impounds the main stem of the San Gabriel River about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) downstream from the confluence of the river's East and West Forks, which drain a large portion of the San Gabriel Mountains. It is located directly upstream from the Morris Dam. The dam provides flood control, groundwater recharge flows and hydroelectricity for the heavily populated San Gabriel Valley in the Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Anita Dam</span> Dam in Sierra Madre, California

Santa Anita Dam, also known as Big Santa Anita Dam, is a concrete thin arch dam on Santa Anita Creek in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, California. Owned by the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, the dam serves for flood control, water conservation and debris control. The dam is 225 feet (69 m) high and 612 feet (187 m) long, holding 858 acre-feet (1,058,000 m3) of water with a maximum capacity of 1,028 acre⋅ft (1,268,000 m3). The catchment area for the dam is 10.8 square miles (28 km2). The dam was built between 1923 and 1927. The dam has three valves that control releases of stormwater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Don Pedro Dam</span> Dam in California

New Don Pedro Dam, often known simply as Don Pedro Dam, is an earthen embankment dam across the Tuolumne River, about 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of La Grange, in Tuolumne County, California. The dam was completed in 1971, after four years of construction, to replace the 1924 concrete-arch Don Pedro Dam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morris Dam</span> Dam in Los Angeles County, California

Morris Dam is a concrete gravity dam across the San Gabriel River in the U.S. state of California. It impounds Morris Reservoir, directly downstream of San Gabriel Dam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Tujunga Dam</span> Dam in Los Angeles County, California

Big Tujunga Dam is a 244-foot-high (74 m) concrete arch dam in Los Angeles County, California, spanning Big Tujunga Canyon northeast of Sunland, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Completed in 1931, it provides flood control and groundwater recharge for the San Fernando Valley.

San Antonio Dam is an embankment flood control and debris dam on San Antonio Creek in San Bernardino County, California, about 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Ontario. The dam was authorized by the Flood Control Acts of 1936 and 1938 as part of a major program to provide flood protection in the Santa Ana River system. Construction began in April 1952 and finished in May 1956. The dam controls runoff from a rugged catchment area of 27 square miles (70 km2) in the San Gabriel Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mojave Forks Dam</span> Dam in Hesperia, California

The Mojave Forks Dam, most often known as the Mojave River Dam, is an earth-fill dry dam across the Mojave River in San Bernardino County, California in the United States. Completed in 1974 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the dam is located at the confluence of the West Fork Mojave River and Deep Creek, and can store approximately 179,400 acre⋅ft (221,300,000 m3) of water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Dimas Dam</span> Dam in Los Angeles County, California

San Dimas Dam is a concrete gravity dam in Los Angeles County, California. The dam and its flood control basin/reservoir are in the San Gabriel Mountains and within the Angeles National Forest. The dam is currently operated by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works but was originally built by the Los Angeles County Flood Control District in 1922. The dam controls flooding from San Dimas Creek, a major San Gabriel Mountains drainage and tributary of the San Gabriel River. As a flood control facility the San Dimas Reservoir is dry for most of the year, only storing water after significant winter storms. The regulation provided by the dam allows for the efficient diversion of floodwaters from San Dimas Wash to Puddingstone Reservoir, which protects the San Dimas area of the San Gabriel Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Rock Dam</span> Dam near Palmdale, California, US

Little Rock Dam, also known as Littlerock Dam, or officially as Little Rock-Palmdale Dam, is a concrete gravity dam on Little Rock Creek in Los Angeles County, California, about 5 mi (8.0 km) south of Palmdale. The dam and Little Rock Reservoir are owned by the Palmdale Water District and Littlerock Creek Irrigation District and are used for agricultural and municipal water supply and flood control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Fork San Gabriel River</span> River in California, United States

The West Fork is one of two major streams, the other being the East Fork, that combine to form the San Gabriel River in Los Angeles County, California. The West Fork flows for 19 miles (31 km) in an easterly direction from its origins at Red Box Gap, in the San Gabriel Mountains, eventually reaching San Gabriel Reservoir where it is bridged by SR 39 just above its mouth.

References

  1. 1 2 [ dead link ]
  2. 1 2 "Dams Within the Jurisdiction of the State of California (A-G)" (PDF). California Department of Water Resources. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-09. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "Cogswell Dam" (PDF). Dpwftp.cp.la.ca.us. Retrieved November 18, 2012.[ permanent dead link ]