Жаңа Уэдделл бөгеті және көлінің тарихы

The New Waddell Dam is an embankment dam on the Agua Fria River in Maricopa County, Arizona, 35 mile (56 km) northwest of Phoenix. It serves as part of the Central Arizona Project (CAP) while also providing water for the Maricopa Water District. The dam creates Lake Pleasant with water from the Agua Fria and also the CAP aqueduct. In addition, it affords flood protection, hydroelectric power production and recreational opportunities. Construction on the dam began in 1985 and ended in 1994. Its reservoir submerged the Old Waddell Dam which was completed in 1927 after decades of planning.

First referred to as the Frogs Tank Dam, the original Waddell Dam was the ambition of local businessmen who wanted to develop a project that used the Agua Fria for the irrigation of around of land. This was to be accomplished with a storage dam, diversion dam and system of canals. The project began in 1888 with the formation of the Agua Fria Water and Land Company. The company hired George Beardsley's Agua Fria Construction Company, and in 1892, construction on the project began. In 1895, Beardsley died, and his brother William who was now president of the Water and Land Company helped continue the project. In 1896, due to a lack of funding caused by poor nationwide economic conditions, the project was halted. The Water and Land Company soon went bankrupt, but William Beardsley kept the project alive. Work had been primarily done on the diversion dam and canal while only the foundation of the storage dam, a gravity dam, was completed. The diversion dam, Camp Dyer Diversion Dam, was named after Edgar J. Dyer, a surveyor on the project. After nearly 30 years of struggling with funding, William Beardsley hired engineer Carl Pleasant to assist with the design. Pleasant recommended hiring the engineer firm Peckham and James to draft plans for the storage dam at the Frogs Tank site. The gravity dam design was dropped, and a relatively new, cheaper and improved but controversial design was adopted: the multiple arch buttress dam. In 1925, under a new state law, Beardsley was able to create the Beardsley Agua Fria Water Conservation District. The new district could raise funds through a bond issue. On December 20, 1925, the construction contract was signed, but the bonds had yet to be purchased. Five days before the contract was signed, Beardsley died. His son, Robert took over the project along with Pleasant. In early 1926, Pleasant sold the needed bonds to the New York firm Brandon, Gordon and Waddell. The firm sent Donald Ware Waddell to oversee construction. Three years later, the Bureau of Reclamation and the State of Arizona agreed on an alternative to Orme. This was known as Plan 6, and it recommended four projects: a reconstruction of the Stewart Mountain Dam, a new or larger Roosevelt Dam, the Cliff Dam on the Verde River and finally, the New Waddell Dam on the Agua Fria River (a tributary of the Gila River). On November 6, 1981, the Secretary of the Interior James G. Watt recommended Plan 6. In April 1984, it was approved with the exception of the Cliff Dam, which needed further study and would eventually be removed from CAP. The reservoir created by the dam, Lake Pleasant, has a capacity of at its maximum elevation above sea level: 1725 feet (526 m). At maximum elevation, its surface area is The maximum conservation storage level of the reservoir is 1702 feet (519 m) when the reservoir has a surface area of Conservation storage for the reservoir is and minimum storage The dam sits at the head of a 1459 square miles (3,779 km2) catchment area. Located 1.25 mile (2 km) northwest of the dam and serving excess water levels are two different spillways: a 590 feet (180 m) long un gated free flow with a crest elevation of 1706.5 feet (520 m) and a 370 feet (113 m) long fuse plug embankment with an elevation of 1711 feet (522 m). The free flow spillway has a discharge capacity of and the fuse plug At an elevation of 1728 feet (527 m), both spillways would have a combined capacity of
Water from the dam's reservoir is released through its outlet works or power plant to either the Waddell Canal or into Hank Raymond Lake, which is formed just downstream of the dam by the Camp Dryer Diversion Dam. The diversion dam is a composite concrete and masonry dam with a height of 79 feet (24 m) and length of 872 feet (266 m). It can store up to at an elevation of 1445 feet (440 m). Water from Hank Raymond Lake is diverted into the Beardsley Canal, which has a main extension 33 mile (53 km) long to serve 60 square miles (155 km2) of the Maricopa Water District (MWD). The Beardsley Canal also has an interconnection 4.5 mile (7 km) south of the dam at with the CAP aqueduct that allows it to receive additional water from that source. Water released into the 4.7 mile (8 km) long Waddell Canal first travels under the Agua Fria River via a 2440 feet (744 m) long siphon before being returned to the surface canal where it continues south to meet the CAP aqueduct just west of Arizona State Route 303. The capacity of the pump generating plant, Waddall Canal and siphon is while the outlet works for the diversion dam and Beardsley Canal are , but only can be diverted to the canals at a time. Water from the New Waddell Dam reservoir augments supply in the CAP and helps deliver 15% more CAP water to Arizona. Water in Lake Pleasant is divided between the CAP and MWD Water from the CAP aqueduct is also drawn into Lake Pleasant via the New Waddell Pump Generating Plant. During the winter months, when energy rates are low, additional water in the aqueduct is pumped a maximum of 192 feet (59 m) up into the lake for storage.

Lake Pleasant, created by the dam, offers recreational opportunities to tourists and locals. The lake is served by a marina and surrounding areas containing over 450 picnic sites, 225 camping sites and several miles of trails. Because the lake is seasonal, fluctuating up to 125 feet (38 m) annually, these facilities are located for accessibility. Around the lake, Reclamation has taken steps to protect wildlife habitats for bald eagles and Gila topminnows.