GILA BEND, Ariz. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commander, Lt. Gen. William “Butch” Graham, and Army Chief of Public Affairs Rebecca Hodson joined USACE senior leaders Nov. 17 on a tour of Painted Rock Dam, a flood risk-reduction project located on the Gila River in Maricopa County.
Painted Rock Dam is a flood-risk management project that helps protect several towns in two countries, two military installations and one of the nation’s largest vegetable producing regions.
“This is the first time any Army chief of public affairs has traveled to Painted Rock Dam to tour the critical impact the Army plays on the nation’s civil works and disaster response program,” said Maj. Gen. Jason Kelly, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deputy commanding general for Civil and Emergency Operations.
Painted Rock Dam is within the Gila River Drainage Basin and is operated by the USACE Los Angeles District. The dam consists of a debris pool, spillway, a gauging station and dikes. The Dam is operated on a prediction basis, which establishes the rate of release for floodwaters from the dam, based on upstream and downstream conditions.
“Most seasons, the reservoir remains dry,” said Col. Andrew Baker, commander of the LA District Daily operations consists of maintenance, weather monitoring and assisting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but the last two years have seen an increase of waterflow potentially raising risk to the dam’s drainage area of 50,800 square miles. The Painted Rock Dam and its two dam operators who live onsite are here to mitigate flood risk to Southern Arizona and, particularly, the city of Yuma.”
Construction of the dam began in July 1957 and was completed in January 1960, at a cost of about $13.7 million.