By Brittney Sherman
Progress is now visible at Anderson Dam, where crews have been digging a 24-foot high and 1,700-foot-long tunnel as part of an earthquake safety project estimated to cost $1.2 billion.
Federal dam safety regulators ordered Santa Clara County’s largest reservoir drained in 2020 for the purpose of reducing the risk of failure due to a major earthquake. The tunnel is projected to be completed in 2024 and will be followed by the construction of a new dam and spillway with the capacity to withstand a 7.2 magnitude earthquake.
When Anderson Dam’s reservoir is full, it holds approximately 89,278 acre feet of water — more than the combined water storage of all other nine reservoirs in the district. For the past two years, the reservoir has been drained to 3% during a time when water is an expensive and scarce commodity. The retrofit project is estimated to be fully completed by 2032.
Read the Mercury Times article HERE.