Notable Water Releases
The riverbed of the Salt River at Phoenix is often dry or a trickle, with the river's flow being entirely diverted to agricultural and other uses upriver. The Tempe Town Lake uses artificial structures and the natural riverbed to form a lake. In periods of high runoff, the inflatable dams confining the lake must be lowered to permit the passage of the Salt River itself. The lake has released water on multiple occasions as the river levels rise normally due to heavy rain or winter snow run off.
For the first time since its construction the 1.5-meter (5 ft) eastern dam was lowered, on December 31, 2004. Heavy rains in the Salt River watershed required the release of 570 m³/s (20,000 ft³/s) of runoff into the Salt River. The dams are designed to handle a maximum flow of 1800 m³/s (65,000 ft³/s).
Additional releases occurred in February 2005, January 2008 and February 2009.
Read more about this topic: Tempe Town Lake
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