Sepulveda Dam Basin Master Plan - Los Angeles District - U.S. Army

Sepulveda Dam BasinMaster Plan and Environmental AssessmentIn 1935 and 1936, the Corps andLACFCD became partners in a largeWorks Progress Administration (WPA)contract to design a comprehensive floodrisk management plan for the LosAngeles, Santa Ana, the San GabrielRivers and their tributaries in Los AngelesCounty (Corps 1938). The DefiniteProject Report for the control of the LosAngeles River was submitted inDecember 1936. The severe storms andfloods of February-March 1938 providedadditional impetus for a comprehensiveflood risk management program insouthern California.Sepulveda Dam Construction 1940Sepulveda Dam forms part of the LACDA system of flood risk management structures locatedon the San Gabriel and the Los Angeles Rivers and their tributaries.The analysis of design, completed in 1939 and revised in 1941, established the location anddesign of the Dam and appurtenant flood risk management amenities. Construction of the Dam,spillway, and outlet works that exist today was completed in December 1941 at a Federal firstcost of $6,650,561.Until the housing boom following World War II, the San Fernando Valley (Valley) was a majoragricultural center of California. Following the war, development of housing units increaseddramatically and with it a growing population. In 1950, at the time of development of the 1953Master Plan, the “Master Recreation Plan Flood Control Reservoir”, the population of the City ofLos Angeles stood at 1,970,358. This compares to a population of 3,694,820 in 2000 accordingto the U.S. Census Bureau. According to the 1953 Master Plan, the population of the SanFernando Valley in1950 was 311,016 and he future population based on ultimatedevelopment under existing zoning and trends was expected to be 1,848,093.Introduction 1-4