Olmos Dam

Olmos Dam is a detention dam located in San Antonio, Texas.[1][2] It was built in the 1920s, following the disastrous September 1921 San Antonio floods.[3] Work began on the dam on January 19, 1925,[4] completed in 1926,[2][5][6][7] and in 1929 a cut-off channel, to allow excess water to bypass the Great Bend in downtown,[8] was completed. Projects, which together have been providing flood control.[9]

In the 1970s, improvements were made by the City of San Antonio and the San Antonio River Authority.[10][11] In March 1979, an improvement was made to strengthen and anchor the dam, as well as modifying gate operations, in order to provide an emergency spillway.[5]

There are six gates within the dam, two of which are open at all times to a height of 2 ft (0.61 m). They are rotated once a week. Each gate is controlled via an actuator that is situated inside the dam's gatehouse.

San Antonio Express-News history columnist Paula Allen has referred to the dam as "the jewel in the crown of San Antonio’s system of flood control."[4]

It has become a "staple structure north of downtown San Antonio."[3]

Excavations in the area around Olmos Dam, both prior to the dam's construction in the 1920s and in subsequent excavations such as in 1979, have yielded a good number of Native American artifacts.[12][2]

See also

References

  1. "Dams and Reservoirs in Texas: Historical and Descriptive Information, December 31, 1966," Cleo LaFoy Dowell, Seth Darnaby Breeding, Texas Water Development Board, 1967. p.36
  2. "Olmos Dam Site". car.utsa.edu. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  3. Carnett, Lindsey (May 25, 2018). "SA Gears: A look inside Olmos Dam". mySA. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
  4. Allen, Paula (May 24, 2015). "Scenic dam drive scrapped for security". ExpressNews.com. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  5. "Olmos Reservoir (San Antonio River Basin) | Texas Water Development Board". www.twdb.texas.gov. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  6. "Olmos Dam Restoration: Aggregate Technologies, Houston/Baton Rouge". Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  7. Fisher, Lewis F. (2007). River Walk: The Epic Story of San Antonio's River. Maverick Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-893271-40-1. p.67
  8. "The San Antonio River". www.edwardsaquifer.net. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  9. Brown, Amy K. (August 8, 2017). Explorer's Guide Austin, San Antonio, & the Hill Country (Third Edition) (Explorer's Complete). The Countryman Press. ISBN 978-1-68268-045-2.
  10. San Antonio River Channel Improvement: Environmental Impact Statement. 1972.
  11. McDonald, James E.; Curtis, Nancy F.; Program, Repair, Evaluation, Maintenance, and Rehabilitation Research; Center (U.S.), Engineer Research and Development; Engineers, United States Army Corps of (1999). Repair and Rehabilitation of Dams: Case Studies. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center. pp. 207-8
  12. The Texas Journal of Science. Anchor Publishing Company. 1953.


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