| Santa Anita Dam | |
|---|---|
| Location | Sierra Madre, California |
| Coordinates | |
| Opening date | 1927 |
| Construction cost | $17 million |
| Owner(s) | Los Angeles County Flood Control District |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Concrete thin arch |
| Height | 225 ft (69 m) |
| Length | 612 ft (187 m) |
| Base width | 61.5 ft (18.7 m) |
| Impounds | Santa Anita Creek |
| Type of spillway | Overflow |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Santa Anita Reservoir |
| Capacity | 1,028 acre·ft (1,268,000 m3) |
| Catchment area | 10.8 sq mi (28 km2) |
| Surface area | 17 acres (0.069 km2) |
| Power station | |
| Hydraulic head | 213 ft (65 m) |
| Installed capacity | None |
Santa Anita Dam is a concrete thin-arch dam on Santa Anita Creek in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, California. The dam, owned by the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, serves for flood, water conservation and sedimentation control purposes. It stands 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 completed in 1927.[1]
The dam is situated in the steep San Gabriel foothills, north of Sierra Madre and Arcadia. It is located just north of the boundary of the Angeles National Forest. The dam is visible from Santa Anita Canyon Road, which runs along the west slope of the Santa Anita Canyon and provides access into trails further upstream along Santa Anita Creek. The viewing window for the dam is very short, only about a half-mile; the access road which runs down into the canyon from Santa Anita Canyon Road is closed to the public. However, the First Water trail, which leads downstream from Chantry Flat along the creek, is said to provide access to the reservoir.
Since the 1990s the maximum allowed storage of water has been restricted, to ensure that the dam will not collapse due to seismic instability. This has partially caused rapid silting of the reservoir and sediment removal was started in mid-2009. The reservoir was drained and about 6,750,000 cubic yards (5,160,000 m3) of sediment were removed.