Project Description

The San Vicente Dam Raise is part of the Emergency Storage Project, a system of reservoirs, interconnected pipelines and pumping stations designed to make water available to the San Diego region in the event of an interruption in imported water deliveries.

San Vicente Dam currently stands at 220 feet. It will be raised a total of 117 feet, in a single raise, to provide both emergency and carryover water storage. The first 54 feet of the dam raise is part of the Emergency Storage Project, which will create an additional 52,000 acre-feet of water storage capacity, over the present 90,000 acre-feet, for use in an emergency.

An additional 63-foot raise, for a total of 117 feet, is for the Carryover Storage Project, which will allow San Vicente Reservoir to store up to 100,000 acre-feet of water during wet seasons when it is plentiful and then carry it over for use in subsequent dry years. The environmental study for this additional raise is complete and was certified in April 2008.

Construction of the San Vicente Dam Raise project is scheduled to begin in early 2009 and will take about four years. To assure public safety during construction, the reservoir will be closed to boating, fishing, and all other water recreation. The city of San Diego began lowering the reservoir’s water level, by using it as drinking water, in preparation for the beginning of the San Vicente Dam Raise construction work. The reservoir will close as soon as the water level no longer reaches the boat launch ramp at the marina, expected to be in late summer 2008. San Vicente Reservoir will reopen to recreation after construction sometime between 2014 and 2017, as soon as the water level reaches the new boat launch at the new marina facility. The amount of time needed to refill the reservoir will depend on water supply and demand.

There will be many new improvements once the reservoir is reopened. As part of the project, the Water Authority will improve the reservoir's access road, making it wider and less steep. Also the boat ramp will be expanded and extended and the size of the parking area will be increased. The work will also include adding shade trees and picnic areas.