Quake Repairs to Bolster Casitas Dam

Federal engineers have recommended that the Casitas Dam near Ojai be bolstered soon to meet current earthquake standards.

The Bureau of Reclamation has decided that the 39-year-old dam is safe for continued operation but needs modernization.

The bureau is expected to begin work on the federally owned dam in October but must first go through a series of public hearings to discuss any potential environmental impacts of the modifications.

A public information meeting is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Casitas Municipal Water District Boardroom at 1055 N. Ventura Ave. in Oakview.

“They have been looking at this dam for the last year and applying the new criteria they developed from the Northridge and Loma Prieta earthquakes,” said Steve Wickstrum, principal civil engineer of the Casitas Municipal Water District.

The Casitas Dam, which sits on the Red Mountain fault, is examined once every eight years--as are all federally owned dams as a matter of safety and precaution.

During recent rainstorms, the dam remained in safe condition, Wickstrum said.

The 1,200-cubic-foot-per-second spill Feb. 23 was the largest spill at the dam and marks the eighth time the dam has spilled since 1978. The spillway is constructed to discharge 7,395 cubic feet per second with no impacts to the dam.

The dam was constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation during the 1950s to provide long-term water supplies to western Ventura County’s municipal, industrial and agricultural water users.