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Roosevelt Dam tests spillway gates

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Recently SRP crews at Theodore Roosevelt Dam conducted an annual test of two of the four north spillway gates. This was to ensure that they’ll operate properly in the event of a flood. SRP representative Patty Garcia-Likens reported that crews opened each of the two gates on Roosevelt’s north side in one- and two-foot increments, until each was opened three feet. The entire test took less than an hour and was marked successful by SRP crews.

“Thanks to the 2019 runoff season that produced more than 1.1 million acre-feet of water between January and May, this is the first time in several years that lake levels were high enough to produce the stunning waterfall effect captured by SRP’s Creative Services team,” said Garcia-Likens. “Most tests in the last eight years have been dry, as the lake was too low to reach the spillway gates.”

During the test’s peak flow, approximately 22,440 gallons of water per second was released. Apache Lake will act as a storage space for this water.

It will eventually be released downstream into the canals that deliver water to Tempe and Phoenix.