The Horse Mesa Dam is a concrete thin
arch dam
An arch dam is a concrete dam that is curved upstream in plan. The arch dam is designed so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, causing the arch to straighten slightly and strengthe ...
located in the
Superstition Mountains
The Superstition Mountains ( yuf-x-yav, Wi:kchsawa) is a range of mountains in Arizona located to the east of the Phoenix metropolitan area. They are anchored by Superstition Mountain, a large mountain that is a popular recreation destination fo ...
, northeast of Phoenix in
Maricopa County, Arizona
Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and List of the most populous counties in the ...
.
The dam is long, high and was built between 1924–27. The dam includes three conventional hydroelectric generating units totaling 32
megawatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...
s (MW) and a pumped-storage unit with a capacity of 97 MW.
The dam and associated infrastructure were listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 2017.
A few homes are nearby for temporary employee housing. Its name is derived from when sheep-herders used to graze their saddle and pack animals on the mesa when they were driving their flocks through the area.
It has an estimated elevation of above sea level.
Reservoir
The dam forms
Apache Lake as it impounds the
Salt River. The dam and reservoir are located downstream from the
Theodore Roosevelt Dam
Theodore Roosevelt Dam is a dam on the Salt River located northeast of Phoenix, Arizona. The dam is high and forms Theodore Roosevelt Lake as it impounds the Salt River. Originally built between 1905 and 1911, the dam was renovated and expande ...
, and upstream from the
Mormon Flat Dam
The Mormon Flat Dam is a dam on the Salt River located Northeast of Phoenix, Arizona.
The dam is 380 feet long, 224 feet high and was built between 1923–25. It is named after nearby Mormon Flat, a place where Latter-day Saints (Mormon) settl ...
.
References
External links
SRP Horse Mesa Dam*
{{Authority control
Dams in Arizona
Hydroelectric power plants in Arizona
Dams on the Salt River (Arizona)
Buildings and structures in Maricopa County, Arizona
United States Bureau of Reclamation dams
Dams completed in 1927
Historic American Engineering Record in Arizona
National Register of Historic Places in Maricopa County, Arizona
Dams on the National Register of Historic Places in Arizona