Brock Reservoir is a artificial

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

located near Gordons Well, California. When a water request from

Lake Mead Lake Mead is a reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in the Southwestern United States. It is located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, east of Las Vegas. It is the largest reservoir in the US in terms of water capacity. L ...

is made, it takes time to travel the canal system to its destination. If the request is changed or canceled before it reaches its destination, the water is diverted to Brock Reservoir for storage. It has a small maximum volume of only , but is expected to be filled and emptied many times each year. It holds water from the

All-American Canal The All-American Canal is an long aqueduct, located in southeastern California. It conveys water from the Colorado River into the Imperial Valley and to nine cities. It is the Imperial Valley's only water source, and replaced the Alamo Canal, w ...

until it can be used for nearby agriculture.

Structure

The reservoir sits on about , and consists of two basins. The basins are enclosed by earthen

berm A berm is a level space, shelf, or raised barrier (usually made of compacted soil) separating areas in a vertical way, especially partway up a long slope. It can serve as a terrace road, track, path, a fortification line, a border/ separation ...

s lined with

polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging ( plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including b ...

and covered with a layer of soil cement. A inlet channel connects the reservoir to the All-American Canal with a canal and siphon system returning the water to the All-American Canal for use by farmers. Engineers filled the reservoir starting in mid-October 2010 to test for leaks. Over a 28-day period, no leaks were found, and the reservoir only lost of water due to evaporation. The reservoir will only be filled with water not used from the canal due to rain providing farmers with the needed water. The water saved in the reservoir will then be used when needed by farmers. The reservoir is operated remotely by the

Imperial Irrigation District The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) is an irrigation district that serves the Imperial Valley in Southern California. Established under the State Water Code, the IID supplies roughly of Imperial Valley farmland with raw Colorado River water ...

, which supplies water to farmers in California. The district can open and close the inlet and outlet gates and regulate the amount of water diverted into the reservoir and returned to the main system.

Background

The reservoir, named after an

Imperial Valley , photo = Salton Sea from Space.jpg , photo_caption = The Imperial Valley below the Salton Sea. The US-Mexican border runs diagonally across the lower left of the image. , map_image = Newriverwatershed-1-.jpg , map_caption = Map of Imperial ...

farmer and agriculture researcher Warren H. Brock, solves the problem of unused

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

water in the

being 'lost' to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. When communities and farmers order water near the All American Canal, water is released from storage at

. The water takes about five days to reach the region, by which time rain may have provided the needed water. With no local storage, the water continues flowing into Mexico. The idea for the reservoir came following the 2007 drought-management plan adopted by the seven states along the

. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation estimates the project could save as much as of water a year. The project was approved in 2008, and construction finished in October 2010. The project cost an estimated $172 million. The three major water districts in the area contributed to the funding of the project, with the

Southern Nevada Water Authority The Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) is a government agency that was founded in 1991 to manage Southern Nevada's water needs on a regional basis in Clark County. SNWA provides wholesale water treatment and delivery for the greater Las Vegas ...

contributing $115 million and the

Central Arizona Project The Central Arizona Project (CAP) is a 336 mi (541 km) diversion canal in Arizona in the southern United States. The aqueduct diverts water from the Colorado River to the Bill Williams Wildlife Refuge south portion of Lake Havasu ne ...

and

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a regional wholesaler and the largest supplier of treated water in the United States. The name is usually shortened to "Met," "Metropolitan," or "MWD." It is a cooperative of fourteen cit ...

contributing $28.6 million each. In return for their contribution, Nevada can use of water over 20 years and Arizona and California can each use starting in 2016. Nevada contributed the most funds for construction because of its risk of running out of water. The more funds contributed to the project, the larger share of saved water the state would receive.

References

External links

IID website
{{authority control Reservoirs in Imperial County, California Reservoirs in California Reservoirs in Southern California

Structure

Background

See also

References

External links