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Davis Dam
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About 67 miles downstream from Hoover dam on the Colorado River, visible
from the town of Laughlin, Nevada, is Davis Dam. This is an interesting
earthfill dam, with a concrete extension downstream that forms the
headrace to the powerplant, which ends in a gated spillway to the
riverbed below. Dimensions are given as 200 feet high and 1600 feet
long: it reaches 140 above the river level. Construction spanned 1942 to
1950. Maximum pool seems to be 647 feet MSL, at which the spilways can
release 214,000 cfs. The "outlet works" capacity is given as
43,400 cfs at 610.0 feet MSL. So, is that through the powerhouse? Dunno,
draw you own conclusions from the data
here (there is
also a nice, if small, image from the air of the dam).
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The dam was originally named the Bullshead Project, but was changed to
Davis in honor of Reclamation's first director, Arthur Powell Davis.
This dam's primary reason for being is the Mexican Treaty of 1944 for
regulation of water to be delivered to Mexico (if the US and Mexico can
come up with a treaty to share a river, why can't Georgia and
Alabama/Florida??). In fact, as noted at Hoover, power generation is the
least important purpose of any of the dams on the Lower Colorado: the
prime purpose is water conservation and delivery. Lake Mohave, formed by
Davis Dam, is instrumental in that purpose.
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Some other views, while the page is under construction...
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A picture from the
USBR...
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