Horse Mesa Dam

Last updated
Horse Mesa Dam
Horse Mesa Dam.jpg
CountryUnited States
Location Tonto National Forest, Maricopa County, Arizona
Coordinates 33°35′27″N111°20′38″W / 33.59083°N 111.34389°W / 33.59083; -111.34389 Coordinates: 33°35′27″N111°20′38″W / 33.59083°N 111.34389°W / 33.59083; -111.34389
Construction began1924
Opening date1927
Owner(s) U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Dam and spillways
Type of dam Concrete thin arch
Impounds Salt River
Height305 ft (93 m)
Length660 ft (200 m)
Width (crest)8 ft (2.4 m)
Width (base)57 ft (17 m)
Dam volume162,000 cu yd (124,000 m3)
Spillways Gated concrete tunnel and over-the-crest
Spillway capacity150,000 cu ft/s (4,200 m3/s)
Reservoir
Creates Apache Lake
Total capacity245,138 acre⋅ft (0.302373 km3)
Catchment area 5,842 sq mi (15,130 km2)
Surface area2,656 acres (1,075 ha)
Normal elevation1,919 ft (585 m)
Power Station
Turbines 3x 112/3MW units, 1x 97MW pumped-storage unit
Installed capacity 129 MW

The Horse Mesa Dam is a concrete thin arch dam located in the Superstition Mountains, northeast of Phoenix in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Contents

The dam is 660 feet (200 m) long, 300 feet (91 m) high and was built between 1924–27. The dam includes three conventional hydroelectric generating units totaling 32 megawatts (MW) and a pumped-storage unit with a capacity of 97 MW.

The dam and associated infrastructure were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

A few homes are nearby for temporary employee housing. Its name is derived from when sheep-herders used to graze their saddle and pack animals on the mesa when they were driving their flocks through the area. [1] It has an estimated elevation of 2,067 feet (630 m) above sea level.

Reservoir

The dam forms Apache Lake as it impounds the Salt River. The dam and reservoir are located downstream from the Theodore Roosevelt Dam, and upstream from the Mormon Flat Dam.

Downstream view of Horse Mesa Dam. CLOSE-UP VIEW OF HORSE MESA DAM. HEFU PENSTOCK IS AT CENTER RIGHT, AND LEFT (OR SOUTH) SPILLWAY CHUTE IS AT UPPER RIGHT - Horse Mesa Dam, Salt River, 65 miles East of Phoenix, HAER ARIZ,7-PHEN.V,3-24.tif
Downstream view of Horse Mesa Dam.
Water flowing out of a spillway at Horse Mesa, circa 1940 Horse Mesa Dam Spillway.jpg
Water flowing out of a spillway at Horse Mesa, circa 1940
Salt River below the dam. DOWNSTREAM VIEW OF THE SALT RIVER FROM ATOP HORSE MESA DAM - Horse Mesa Dam, Salt River, 65 miles East of Phoenix, Phoenix, Maricopa County, AZ HAER ARIZ,7-PHEN.V,3-26.tif
Salt River below the dam.

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References

  1. Barnes, Will Croft (2016). Arizona Place Names. Tucson: Arizona Place Names. p. 211. ISBN   978-0816534951.