Sepulveda Dam - History

History

After the Los Angeles River flood of 1914 the City of Los Angeles decided to start a project to create a series of small dams along the Los Angeles River and its tributaries. Even with the creation of the Devil's Gate Dam and the St. Francis Dam the Los Angeles area still experienced significant flooding leading up to the failure of the St. Francis Dam in 1928 which killed 44 people. Throughout the 1920's and 30's Los Angeles experienced both small and large floods. In 1938 the Los Angeles Flood of 1938 caused the deaths of 144 people and nearly $150 million dollars in damage. In mid 1938 the city decided to call in the Army Corps of Engineers to channelize and dam off the Los Angeles River and its tributaries. In 1941 the Sepulveda Dam was completed along with Hansen Dam in the Tujunga Wash.

For 28 years the Sepulveda Dam did its job without incident until 1969 when the Los Angeles River jumped its banks causing millions of dollars in damage. In 1988 the Los Angeles River's banks were risen to avoid another incident. In 1994 a hundred year flood occurred in the Los Angeles River. The 1994 flood caused the deaths of 3 people and damaged the Sepulveda Dam. The dam was restored and went without incident for another 11 years until the Los Angeles River jumped its banks in 2005. Since 2005 there has been no flooding in the Los Angeles metro area.