DAM DID ITS JOB IN STORM.Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer VAN NUYS - As rain continued falling Wednesday in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , the sprawling Sepulveda Basin slipped further under water - exactly as it should. The Valley's largest recreational park doubles as its flood-control system - one that can hold thousands of gallons of water, then slowly release the flow into the Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River is an intermittent river flowing through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the west end of the San Fernando Valley, 51 miles (82 km) southeast to its mouth in Long Beach. after the storm has passed. ``When it starts to flood, it's just a matter of how big the lake is going to get. The more severe floods, you're looking at one big, massive lake and you see no grass or roads,'' said Ken Novak, a senior Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Recreation and Park maintenance supervisor based in Sepulveda Basin. That's what happened early Tuesday as a record-breaking storm began its slow march across Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . Roads leading into the park were closed as the water inched its way across the 2,000-acre basin. On Wednesday, hydrologic engineers working out of the Army Corps of Engineers' Reservoir Operations Center The facility or location on an installation, base, or facility used by the commander to command, control, and coordinate all crisis activities. See also base defense operations center; command center. in downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or continued to monitor rainfall, river height and reservoir capacity at the basin. Construction of Sepulveda Dam Located in Los Angeles, California, the Sepulveda Dam is a project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, built in 1941 to control winter flood waters along the Los Angeles River. was completed in December 1941. Since then, the 57-foot-high dam has moderated flood water to prevent the Los Angeles River from overrunning its banks during heavy rains. The river collects much of the Valley's storm water runoff Runoff The procedure of printing the end-of-day prices for every stock on an exchange onto ticker tape. Notes: If the "tape is late" then it can take a long time to print off all the closing prices. and the fast- flowing current heads toward Sepulveda Dam built in the corner of the basin, near the interchange of the Ventura and San Diego freeways The San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405, and the part of Interstate 5 south of the El Toro Y[1]) is one of the principal north-south highways in Southern California, and the major beltway of I-5 running through Southern California. . Normally, the dam's eight outlets are open and allow the river to pass on through Sherman Oaks. But when flow exceeds what the outlets and river channel can handle, the dam holds back the water. When the height behind the dam reaches 680 feet above sea level - which is about 12 feet higher than in dry weather - an alarm system signals corps' offices and engineers at their homes, warning them the reservoir could spill into the basin. At 688 feet, Burbank Boulevard near Woodley Avenue begins to flood. As the rain continues, a shallow pool of water covers the roads, golf courses and paths throughout the basin. ``The pool can rise from 680 to 688 in a very short amount of time, in the matter of an hour or two,'' said Melvin Meneses, a hydrologic engineer with the Corps. At the storm's peak about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, the water's elevation reached 691.2 feet, covering Burbank Boulevard near Woodley Avenue to a level of four feet. Late Tuesday and early Wednesday, the pent-up water began to recede re·cede 1 intr.v. re·ced·ed, re·ced·ing, re·cedes 1. To move back or away from a limit, point, or mark: waited for the floodwaters to recede. 2. back into the Los Angeles River. ``The water disperses pretty quickly. All the gates are wide open and we're kicking out as much water as we can,'' Meneses said. By Wednesday afternoon, the water elevation dropped to 672.9 feet, which left about five feet of water behind the dam. Street services and park workers were awaiting clearance from the Corps to begin clearing the silt, mud and debris left behind. It's an effort that can take about a few hours or a day on the park's bike paths and roads. Golf courses, which are generally the lowest points in the park, soak up a lot of water and can take a few more days to repair enough to handle golf carts. Kerry Cavanaugh, (818) 713-3746 kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): box, map Box/Map: HOW THE SEPULVEDA DAM WORKS |
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