Seven Oaks Dam
| Seven Oaks Dam | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Country | United States |
| Location | San Bernardino National Forest, San Bernardino County, near Mentone, California |
| Coordinates | 34°07′02″N 117°06′00″W / 34.11722°N 117.10000°WCoordinates: 34°07′02″N 117°06′00″W / 34.11722°N 117.10000°W |
| Construction began | 1993 |
| Opening date | 2000 |
| Construction cost | $450 million |
| Owner(s) | Orange County Flood Control District, San Bernardino County Flood Control District |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Embankment |
| Impounds | Santa Ana River |
| Height | 550 ft (170 m) |
| Length | 2,980 ft (910 m) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Seven Oaks Reservoir |
| Total capacity | 145,600 acre·ft (0.1796 km3) |
| Catchment area | 176 sq mi (460 km2) |
| Surface area | 780 acres (320 ha) (max) |
| Normal elevation | 2,604.4 ft (793.8 m) (max) |
Seven Oaks Dam is a 550-foot (170 m) high earth and rock fill embankment dam across the Santa Ana River in the San Bernardino Mountains, about 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Redlands in San Bernardino County, southern California. It impounds Seven Oaks Reservoir in the San Bernardino National Forest.
The dam was proposed in response to major floods in the mid–20th century, and was constructed between 1993 and 2000. Seven Oaks is a dry dam that serves almost exclusively for flood protection to Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. One of the largest embankment dams in the United States, the dam was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and is owned and operated by local flood control districts.
In the wake of severe flooding that killed between 90–100 people in Southern California during early 1969, the USACE began an ambitious effort to improve levees and dams on the Santa Ana River system known as the Santa Ana River Mainstem Project. Among the works proposed under the project were an expansion of the massive Prado Dam, which despite filling to capacity did not fully prevent heavy flooding damages in Orange County, and the construction of the $530 million "Mentone Dam" across the Santa Ana north of Mentone in San Bernardino County. However, the Mentone Dam site was controversial because it would affect groundwater recharge, was aesthetically unpleasing and lay on unstable sediment deposits directly above the San Andreas Fault. In response to public opposition, the USACE replaced the Mentone proposal with the $304 million Upper Santa Ana River Dam, later to be called Seven Oaks Dam, in a bedrock canyon one mile (1.6 km) upstream in the southern San Bernardino Mountains.
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