| Terminus Dam | |
|---|---|
Terminus Dam from Corp of Engineer's Visitor Center |
|
| Official name | Terminus Dam |
| Location | Tulare County, California |
| Opening date | 1962 |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Earthfill |
| Height | 130 feet (40 m) |
| Length | 870 feet (270 m) |
| Impounds | Kaweah River |
| Spillway capacity | 300,000 cu ft/s (8,500 m3/s) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Lake Kaweah |
| Capacity | 183,300 acre feet (226,100,000 m3) |
| Catchment area | 560 square miles (1,500 km²) |
Terminus Dam is a dam on the Kaweah River, which serves to form Lake Kaweah.
The dam provides irrigation and municipal water supply, and as a result, the Kaweah River below the dam is usually regulated for a stable flow year round. The South Fork and the mainstem of the Kaweah both flow into the reservoir and the North Fork joins a short distance upstream. The dam is about 20 miles (32 km) east of Visalia, California, and faces California's Central Valley.[1]
The earthfill dam is 130 feet (40 m) high and approximately 870 feet (270 m) long, and can control up to a 1,000 year flood.[2] The dam lies alongside California State Route 198, just before it enters Sequoia National Park.
Built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Terminus Dam was completed in 1962 to provide flood control and water for irrigation. A project to raise the lake 21 feet (6 m) was completed in 2004. The project included the construction of six 21-foot (6 m)-tall fusegates in the spillway.
|
|||||||||||||||||||