Whittier Narrows Dam is 17 m (56 ft) tall earth dam on the San Gabriel River located, as its name implies, at the Whittier Narrows in Montebello, California. It provides water conservation storage and is also the central element of the Los Angeles County Drainage Area (LACDA) flood control system. Its reservoir has a capacity of 82,720,000 m3 (67,060 acre·ft).
The Whittier Narrows are a natural gap in the hills that form the southern boundary of the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California. The Rio Hondo and the San Gabriel River flow through this gap and are impounded by the reservoir. The Pomona (60) Freeway passes through the reservoir flood control basin and the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway passes along the eastern boundary of the basin.
Authorization for the project construction is contained in the Flood Control Act of 18 August 1941 (PL 77-228) and the initial funds for construction were provided in the 1949 Appropriations Bill. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed construction of the dam in 1957.
Read more about Whittier Narrows Dam: Flood Control
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