SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District awarded a $26 million construction contract May 29 to Central Environmental, Inc., of Anchorage, Alaska, to relocate Tule River Road and widen the existing spillway near the Schafer Dam in Porterville, California.
The road relocation and spillway enlargement represent Phase I in the overall Tule River Basin Project. Other phases of the plan include raising the Ogee Weir up to 10 feet, revetment of both the Frazier Dike and the Highway 190 bridge, land acquisition, and environmental mitigation. Construction is scheduled to start this summer, and projected for completion in 2021.
The purpose of the project is to reduce flood risk for the Central Valley, particularly the Porterville area, where more than 60,000 people live. The project will also increase irrigation storage capacity in Success Lake by 28,000 acre-feet, a 34 percent increase.
The current road is occasionally rendered unusable during high water events. During construction, crews will move approximately one half mile of road out of the spillway to allow for permanent use of the road, and also to allow for the spillway enlargement in Phase I and Ogee Weir raise in Phase II.
Success Lake and Schafer Dam together make up a multi-purpose facility that provides flood damage reduction benefits, irrigation water storage, recreation, and electrical power generation. They are located on the Tule River. The zoned earth-filled dam sits about 5 miles east and upstream of the city of Porterville, in Tulare County, California.