Parker Dam | |
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Location | San Bernardino County, California La Paz County, Arizona |
Coordinates | 34°17′47″N 114°08′23″W / 34.29639°N 114.13972°W |
Status | In use |
Construction began | 1934 |
Opening date | 1938 |
Owner(s) | United States Bureau of Reclamation |
Operator(s) | United States Bureau of Reclamation |
Dam and spillways | |
Type of dam | Concrete gravity-arch |
Impounds | Colorado River |
Height | 85 ft (26 m) |
Height (foundation) | 320 ft (98 m) |
Length | 856 ft (261 m) |
Width (crest) | 39 ft (12 m) |
Width (base) | 100 ft (30 m) |
Spillway type | Service, controlled |
Spillway capacity | 400,000 cu ft/s (11,000 m3/s) |
Reservoir | |
Creates | Lake Havasu |
Total capacity | 646,200 acre⋅ft (797,100,000 m3) |
Catchment area | 178,392 sq mi (462,030 km2) |
Surface area | 19,300 acres (7,800 ha) |
Power Station | |
Turbines | 4 x 30 MW Francis turbine |
Installed capacity | 120 MW |
Annual generation | 456.944 GWh |
Website www | |
"Parker Dam". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. |
Parker Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam that crosses the Colorado River 155 miles (249 km) downstream of Hoover Dam. Built between 1934 and 1938 by the Bureau of Reclamation, it is 320 feet (98 m) high, 235 feet (72 m) of which are below the riverbed (the deep excavation was necessary in order to reach the bedrock on which the foundation of the dam was built),[1][2] making it the deepest dam in the world. The portion of the dam above the foundation stands 85 feet (25.9 m) tall, making it the only dam in the world that stands more underground than above ground. The dam's primary functions are to create a reservoir, and to generate hydroelectric power. The reservoir behind the dam is called Lake Havasu and can store 647,000 acre⋅ft (798,000,000 m3; 2.11×1011 US gal; 1.76×1011 imp gal). The dam straddles the Arizona-California state border at the narrows the river passes through between the Whipple Mountains in San Bernardino County, California and the Buckskin Mountains in La Paz County, Arizona.[3]