Savage Dam
Encyclopedia
Savage Dam is a dam across the Otay River
in southern San Diego County, California
. It is a concrete arch gravity structure 149 feet (45.4 m) high, and serves to store water from the San Diego Aqueduct
's 3rd Pipeline for backup municipal uses in the San Diego metropolitan area. It lies just over 6 miles (9.7 km) east-southeast of Chula Vista
and 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the United States-Mexico border. The dam is named in honor of H. N. Savage, who directed its construction.
The dam was originally completed in 1897 as an earthfill and steel structure called the Otay Dam by the Southern California Mountain Water Company to provide water storage. However, in 1916, heavy rains supposedly brought on by Charles Hatfield
, a "rainmaker", hired by the city of San Diego to put an end to a drought, caused the dam to burst. The failure sent a wall of water 40 feet (12.2 m) high downstream, destroying buildings and bridges, and washing thousands of tons of sediment and wreckage into San Diego Bay
. Eleven Japanese American
farmers were killed. The dam was rebuilt as Savage Dam in 1918, and has functioned properly since.
Otay River
The Otay River is a river in southern San Diego County, California. The river begins at San Miguel Mountain, flows through the Upper- and Lower- Otay Reservoirs, and continues on between the southern part of the Chula Vista and the Otay Mesa West district of San Diego, and empties into San Diego Bay...
in southern San Diego County, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It is a concrete arch gravity structure 149 feet (45.4 m) high, and serves to store water from the San Diego Aqueduct
San Diego Aqueduct
The San Diego Project, more popularly referenced as the San Diego Aqueduct, is a system of four aqueducts in the U.S. state of California, supplying about 90 percent of the water supply for the city of San Diego. The system comprises the First and Second San Diego Aqueducts, carrying water from the...
's 3rd Pipeline for backup municipal uses in the San Diego metropolitan area. It lies just over 6 miles (9.7 km) east-southeast of Chula Vista
Chula Vista, California
Chula Vista is the second largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fourteenth largest city in the State of California, and the seventy seventh largest city in the U.S....
and 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the United States-Mexico border. The dam is named in honor of H. N. Savage, who directed its construction.
The dam was originally completed in 1897 as an earthfill and steel structure called the Otay Dam by the Southern California Mountain Water Company to provide water storage. However, in 1916, heavy rains supposedly brought on by Charles Hatfield
Charles Hatfield
Charles Mallory Hatfield was an American "rainmaker". He was born in Fort Scott, Kansas in 1875 or 1876. His family moved to southern California in the 1880s. As an adult, he became a salesman for the New Home Sewing Machine Company...
, a "rainmaker", hired by the city of San Diego to put an end to a drought, caused the dam to burst. The failure sent a wall of water 40 feet (12.2 m) high downstream, destroying buildings and bridges, and washing thousands of tons of sediment and wreckage into San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay
San Diego Bay is a natural harbor and deepwater port adjacent to San Diego, California. It is 12 mi/19 km long, 1 mi/1.6 km–3 mi/4.8 km wide...
. Eleven Japanese American
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
farmers were killed. The dam was rebuilt as Savage Dam in 1918, and has functioned properly since.