This morning, I met with the dam contractor and two members of the engineering team to discuss the current phase of dam work along with the logistics of phase two dam work (scheduled to start in November). You can see above, one of two siphon drains has been installed over the dam. This will allow us to draw the water down without having access to the existing drain valve. It also limits the amount of sediment sent downstream because it removes water from the top couple feet of the lake. Over the next week, you'll see the lake level drop a few feet- but not lower than the irrigation intake pipe. We don't want to lose access to irrigation water during this project. The goal is to keep the water below the dam level so the contractor has a dry area to work in. I'll be posting more on this over the next two weeks.
The purpose of phase one is to replace the drain valve in the dam.
