Sunday, July 30, 2023

1928 10mw Coolidge Dam on Gila River near Peridot, AZ

(HAERSatellite)

Both 5mw generators where "closed" in 1983. [EnergyJustice]

Judging from Google Earth images, the water level in this reservoir is normally rather low.
Street View, Jan 2011
 
"San Carlos Reservoir is located at Coolidge Dam in Arizona and was constructed in 1928 by the Bureau of Reclamation for irrigation purposes. It is the largest reservoir in the San Carlos Irrigation Project, covering an area of 19,500 acres and with a capacity of up to 1,315,400 acre-feet of water." [snoflo]

USACE. Photo by Todd Cleveland, engineering technician in the Construction Branch.

rjh-consultants
"The dam is 250 feet high and provides over 900,000 acre-feet of storage, which is used to irrigate over 100,000 acres.  The dam consists of three reinforced concrete dome arches with buttress supports.  The dam includes two uncontrolled spillways which each contain three 50-foot-wide bays and inoperable 50-foot-wide by 12-foot-high drum gates.  The outlet works consists of two 250-foot-high intake towers with 8-foot-diameter conduits extending through the dam."

Instagram

Instagram
"This is the fullest it has been in five years."

Why is it missing the 2022 data?
snoflo_history

Dam "limbo": how low can you go?
PinalCentral, Courtesy of Nancy Caywood (2018)

HAER ARIZ,11-PERI.V,1-
24. VIEW OF DOWNSTREAM FACE OF DAM WITH EXCELLENT VIEW OF PLACING TOWER. POWER HOUSE OUTLETS ARE VISIBLE AT BASE OF CENTRAL DOME, c. 1928 - Coolidge Dam, Gila River, Peridot, Gila County, AZ Photos from Survey HAER AZ-7

Back when the hydropower units were still used.
HAER ARIZ,11-PERI.V,1-
40. CLOSE-UP VIEW OF DOWNSTREAM FACE, SHOWING POWER HOUSE - Coolidge Dam, Gila River, Peridot, Gila County, AZ Photos from Survey HAER AZ-7

HAER ARIZ,11-PERI.V,1-
35. INTERIOR VIEW OF POWER HOUSE, SHOWING GENERATORS, c. 1928 - Coolidge Dam, Gila River, Peridot, Gila County, AZ Photos from Survey HAER AZ-7

HAER ARIZ,11-PERI.V,1-
50. VIEW OF POWER HOUSE CONTROL ROOM FROM WEST END - Coolidge Dam, Gila River, Peridot, Gila County, AZ Photos from Survey HAER AZ-7
 
Satellite, according to Google Earth, this was Jan 2016

I had to go back to 1998 to find a relatively full reservoir.
Google Earth, May 1998


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