California’s Mojave River Dam is at high risk for failure if it were to face extreme flooding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Friday.
The Corps upgraded the dam’s status from “low to high urgency of action,” according to a press release.
The 200-foot high dam met design standards when it was built in 1971, but the Corps said a recent risk assessment showed that water from an extreme storm or flooding event could exceed those standards and overtop the dam.
“The dam has never experienced spillway flow or a flood event that has loaded the dam significantly,” Col. Aaron Barta, commander of the Corps’ Los Angeles District, said. “This is a storm that is unlikely to occur, but it is nonetheless a real possibility and one we must be prepared for.”