Webcams Provide Prime Views of Dam Project

A massive construction project is under way at the San Vicente Dam, and when it’s finished the reservoir’s storage capacity will be more than double than what it is today. After all the concrete has been poured by early 2013, the dam will have risen 117 feet to a new height of 337 feet.

Given the dam’s somewhat remote location, most people can’t see its gradual transformation, at least up close. But two webcams aimed at the dam provide current images of the construction progress, as well as time-lapse clips that squeeze weeks of progress into a few minutes.

With one camera providing a topside view and another a downstream view, the county Water Authority’s website posts a new high-resolution image every 30 minutes.      

“The value of this camera technology is that it helps the Water Authority document the historic record of this major construction project, while at the same time allowing members of the public to view its progress online,” said Water Authority Board Chair Michael T. Hogan. “This dam raise will help protect the region’s economy, job base and quality of life by increasing the amount of water available for use within the county.” 

According to the Water Authority, the four-year project is the world’s largest roller-compacted concrete dam raise. When complete, the expanded reservoir will have the capacity to hold 52,000 acre-feet of water for potential emergency use and an additional 100,000 acre-feet during wet years for use in subsequent dry years.

An acre-foot is approximately 326,000 gallons of water—enough to cover a football field one foot deep.

The San Vicente Dam, which is owned and operated by the city of San Diego, is currently closed to all recreation. Once the dam raise is complete and the reservoir is refilled, it will reopen to recreation sometime between 2014 and 2017, depending on rainfall and supply and demand for water.