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Prado Dam Phase One Complete
By Greg FudererMarch 2009
Five years after breaking ground on a $500 million modernization project for Prado Dam, the Army Corps of Engineers celebrated the completion of the first of three 
phases. In a ceremony held February 27 in Corona, Calif., Col. Thomas Magness spoke of the benefits it would provide and led attendees in a countdown for the ceremonial release of water through the dam’s new outlet works.
Magness, commander of the Corps’ Los Angeles District, said the Prado Dam project possesses “a trait that is common to every U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project: that the Corps and its sponsors and partners can accomplish a lot through teamwork and hard work, that the Army Corps is invested in the communities that it serves, and that together the projects we complete make a difference.”
The first phase of the modernization raised the height of the dam more than 28 feet, constructed a new control tower and outlet works, and built a new outlet channel. When combined with the remaining two phases, the finished project will increase Prado basin’s storage capacity by 140,000 acre-feet and triple its ability to discharge water to 30,000 feet per second. The improvements will make Prado Dam capable of preventing up to $15 billion in flood-related damages along the Santa Ana River.
The dedication ceremony provided an encapsulated history lesson of Prado Dam, starting with a flyover by vintage aircraft representative of aviation during the dam’s early years and concluding with a low-level flyover by an Army Black Hawk helicopter.
The second phase, which calls for the construction of nine retention dikes within the basin, is underway. The final phase, raising spillway 20 feet, is scheduled to begin in 2012.