San Lucas Dam

About San Lucas Dam

The primary purpose of San Lucas Dam is flood risk reduction. The dam is designed to control downstream flooding by temporarily storing excess water during storms and releasing it at a controlled rate. The dam is owned by Fernandez Company (private). It impounds the San Lucas Canyon near Rural.

The dam stands 56 feet tall and stretches 700 feet across, creates a reservoir covering 13 acres, has a maximum storage capacity of 600 acre-feet, and collects water from a drainage area of 30 square miles. Completed in 1938, the structure is well-established, with more than 75 years of service.

This dam has a low hazard potential classification, meaning that failure would cause minimal damage, limited primarily to the dam owner's property, with no expected loss of life. Its condition is rated poor, meaning the dam has recognized safety deficiencies that require remediation to address risks. The most recent inspection on record was 05/21/2013. That was over 12 years ago.

At 56 feet, this dam is taller than 94% of dams nationwide.

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