San Bernardino County, Ca, February 15, 2011, 5:00pm – The Seven Oaks Dam, located at the base of the mountain near the city of Mentone off of Highway 38, began to release water on February 15th in order to conduct a high-pressure test.
The test of the Seven Oaks Dam outlet works to confirm the structure’s design modeling and operational procedures. On the 15th, releases from the dam were scheduled to exceed 3,600 cubic feet per second, which is the highest release from the dam to date. However on Thursday February 17th, releases are scheduled to exceed 6,000 cubic feet per second.
The test of the dam’s release system is a requirement included in the original design and construction of the dam, which states when there is sufficient water behind the dam, releases shall be conducted. Seven Oaks Dam is capable of retaining approximately 148,000 acre feet of water at the maximum design pool elevation. Water above that level will flow over the dam’s spillway.
The historical high retained by the Seven Oaks Dam is approximately 43,000 acre feet, on March 8th of 2005. Operators are expected to release about 10, 240 acre feet during this three day release.
[audio:https://kbhr933.com/wp-content/uploads/SP30443.mp3|titles=Seven Oaks Dam Test Release]
