Council receives Devil’s Gate Dam updates
Council members were updated Monday on conditions at Devil’s Gate Dam and Reservoir and how the facility weathered recent heavy rainfall.
Christopher Stone, a flood control engineer with the L.A. County Flood Control District, said the 6.1 inches of rain the city saw in the three-day period beginning Feb. 28 added approximately 530 acre-feet of water to the reservoir, bringing the elevation just four feet short of its spillway.
To accommodate the influx, the Flood Control District released 300 acre-feet of water on March 1, Stone said, though there wasn’t much more rainfall after that.
County officials are in the process of reviewing plans for the removal of an estimated 2.4 million to 4 million cubic yards of mud and debris left over from the 2009 Station fire, a project that could take as long as seven years and impact the surrounding area.
Until it’s cleared, cities downstream of the dam run the risk of becoming flooded during periods of heavy rain.
Stone said the Flood Control District hopes to soon meet with city officials from La Cañada and Pasadena to look at schedules for sediment removal.
“We have some ideas we’re going to bounce around a little bit to see what everybody can live with,” Stone said.
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