The Los Angeles Dam Story(Click on image for a full size version
- 352K) Perched above the densely populated San Fernando Valley,
the Lower San Fernando Dam--predecessor to the Los Angeles Dam--
holds a large reservoir, 1.6 miles long and as much as 130 feet
deep. Severe damage of the dam during the 1971 San Fernando
earthquake forced residents to evacuate homes in a 6-mile-long
area down the valley. The reservoir was the terminus of the main
aqueduct system for Los Angeles, which supplied 80% of the
city's water. Aerial view looking northeast. (Click on images
for a full size versions - 3K, 151K) The 1971 San Fernando
earthquake shook loose a massive slide in the upstream slope of
the Lower San Fernando Dam that lowered the crest about 30 feet.
The slide carried away much of the crest and upstream concrete
facing of the 2,100-foot-long dam. As shown in the photograph at
right, only a narrow shattered wall of dirt remained. Had the
reservoir behind the dam been at its maximum height, water would
have overtoppe