Lake Success spillway project completed, boosting flood protection and water storage

PORTERVILLE, Calif. (KFSN) -- After decades of readying and construction, the Richard L. Schafer Dam Spillway astatine Lake Success is officially complete.

Leaders accidental this ample reservoir volition dramatically amended flood control, protecting homes and lives successful the area.

This is simply a historical milestone for our community," said Congressman Vince Fong. "We not lone built a caller exigency spillway, but we raised this dam 10 feet, that is much h2o retention for us."

The improvements volition summation the lake's retention capableness by 28,000 acre-feet, bringing the full to 112,000 acre-feet.

"What that truly means is 9.8 cardinal gallons of water, further h2o retention that we tin present clasp successful this water truthful it's captious for us," explains Fong.

Not lone lowering flood risks but besides for aboriginal farming use.

"When we person atmospheric flooding, erstwhile we person those storms, present we person the capableness and capableness to store that h2o not lone to support our assemblage but to usage it erstwhile we request it," mentions Fong.

The full outgo of the task was $135 million.

Worth each penny, considering the dam would person been adjuvant during the floods successful 2023.

"It conscionable astir apt reinforced the fact, the imaginativeness of Dick Shafer to enactment this operation in, it conscionable kinda deed location that we request this structure," said Brig. Gen. James Handura, Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers South Pacific Division. "In 2023, they were inactive gathering this truthful it wasnt capable to run the mode it needed to, truthful erstwhile again a reminder of the importances of wherefore it needed to beryllium done."

To larn much astir the project, sojourn the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers website.

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