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Spill gates at Roosevelt Dam northeast of the Valley were tested this week to make sure they are ready in the event of flooding.
The annual test Wednesday was called a success by Tempe-based Salt River Project officials following what they described as a “wet and productive winter” that brought the water level at Roosevelt Lake to the highest point in its history.
Water was in the lake’s flood control space, which is designed to slow down large floods.
It is the third time that has happened since 1996, and “the spill gate test ran longer than previous years to evacuate all the water from the flood control space, as required by the Army Corps of Engineers,” SRP officials said in a release. Currently, the SRP reservoir system is at capacity.
"This functional test, which is performed annually, is a sure-fire way to ensure the readiness of our water release capability," Ivan Insua, SRP’s director of hydro generation,” said.
Snowpack this winter on the 13,000-square-mile watershed that replenishes SRP’s reservoirs was the deepest it’s been in 30 years, according to SRP.
More than 700,000 acre-feet of water or about 228 billion gallons have been released into the normally dry Salt River since March to ensure the reservoirs could handle the melting snow.
"Our dams and reservoirs are doing exactly their intent: to store as much water as possible in times of wet and serve our communities for times of dry," Insua said.
