Van Norman Dams

Van Norman Dams
An oblique aerial view of the Lower Van Norman Dam, taken after the February 9, 1971, San Fernando Earthquake
Country	United States
Location	Los Angeles County, California
Coordinates	34°17′10″N 118°28′47″W / 34.2862°N 118.4796°W / 34.2862; -118.4796
Purpose	Water supply
Status	Decommissioned
Construction began	1919; 105 years ago (1919) (upper dam) 1911; 113 years ago (1911) (lower dam)[1]
Opening date	1921; 103 years ago (1921) (upper dam) November 5, 1913; 111 years ago (1913-11-05) (lower dam)[2]
Demolition date	February 9, 1971; 53 years ago (1971-02-09)
Built by	Los Angeles Bureau of Water Works and Supply
Upper dam and spillways
Type of dam	Earth fill dam
Impounds	Los Angeles Aqueduct Bull Creek
Height (foundation)	60 feet (18 m)
Length	1,200 feet (370 m)[3]
Elevation at crest	1,218 feet (371 m)[4]
Width (crest)	20 feet (6.1 m)[4]
Upper reservoir
Total capacity	1,800 acre⋅ft (2.2×10^6 m3)
Normal elevation	1,213.2 feet (369.8 m) [4]
Lower dam and spillways
Type of dam	Earth fill dam
Height (foundation)	142 feet (43 m)[5]
Length	2,080 feet (630 m)[5]
Elevation at crest	1,144.6 feet (348.9 m)[5]
Lower reservoir
Total capacity	20,000 acre⋅ft (25×10^6 m3)
Normal elevation	1,134.6 feet (345.8 m)[5]
Commission date	October 1922[6]
Type	Conventional
Turbines	2× 2.8 MW [6]

The Van Norman Dams, also known as the San Fernando Dams, were the terminus of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, supplying about 80 percent of Los Angeles' water,^[5] until they were damaged in the 1971 San Fernando earthquake and were subsequently decommissioned due to the inherent instability of the site and their location directly above heavily populated areas.

The Upper Van Norman Dam initially was constructed with 42 feet (13 m) of hydraulic fill.^[4] In 1922, the dam was raised 18 feet (5.5 m) with rolled fill.^[1][4]

The Lower Van Norman Dam was constructed with hydraulic and rolled fill. Hydraulic fill height was about 102.4 feet (31.2 m), while rolled fill was added at least five times in the dam's history, each time increasing the dam's height, totaling 39.6 feet (12.1 m) rolled fill. The last addition was made in 1929–30.^[5][1]

The 1971 San Fernando earthquake significantly damaged the dams, resulting in evacuation of thousands of people from the San Fernando Valley immediately below. 80,000 were evacuated for three days.^[7] Later, it was estimated that a dam failure could have killed 123,400.^[8]

The Upper Van Norman reservoir was operating at about one-third capacity at the time of the earthquake. The quake lowered dam height 3 feet (0.91 m) and displaced the dam laterally 5 feet (1.5 m).^[3]

Originally, the Lower Van Norman reservoir was operated near full capacity of 1,134.6 feet (345.8 m). However, the maximum operating height was reduced to 1,125 feet (343 m) in 1966 following seismic hazard review. Fortuitously, at the time of the 1971 San Fernando earthquake the water height was 1,109 feet (338 m) (about half capacity:^[3] 3.6 billion US gallons (14×10^⁶ m³) of water) as a large landslide fell into the reservoir along with 30 feet (9.1 m) of the crest and upstream face reducing the freeboard to about 5 feet (1.5 m).^[8] This failure was predominantly due to liquefaction of the hydraulic fill.^{[9][10][11][12][4]} To reduce the risk of catastrophic failure, the water level was lowered as rapidly as possible, 13.5 feet (4.1 m) in 3+1⁄2 days, at the rate of 700 cubic feet per second (20 m³/s). This rate was limited by earthquake damage to the outlet lines and drainage towers.^[13]

Reconstruction was proposed, but abandoned after geologic evaluation showed the inherent instability of the dams' foundations.^[14][15]

As a replacement, the Los Angeles Dam was constructed between the original Lower and Upper Van Norman Dam structures in a more stable location.^[16] During the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the Lower Van Norman reservoir area was again severely damaged, but as then it was in use only as a holding basin, the consequences were minor.^[5]

The near failure of the Lower Van Norman Dam brought about major changes in the way public agencies and engineers viewed seismic safety, particularly regarding embankments of fine sands and silts and numeric dynamic analysis of dams. Also, it resulted in many mandated dam safety reassessments.^[9][17]

• List of dams and reservoirs in California
• Dam failure
• Baldwin Hills Reservoir
• St. Francis Dam

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Van Norman Dams.

• Goldbaum, Elizabeth (February 4, 2021). "The Disaster that Helped the Nation Prepare for Future Earthquakes: Remembering San Fernando". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
• Lloyd, Jonathon (February 9, 2021). "February 1971: The Magnitude-6.5 San Fernando Earthquake Shakes Southern California". NBC Los Angeles. Retrieved July 19, 2021.