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Parker Dam is a concretearch-gravity dam that crosses the Colorado RiverScript error: No such module "convert". downstream of Hoover Dam. Built between 1934 and 1938 by the Bureau of Reclamation, it is Script error: No such module "convert". high, Script error: No such module "convert". of which are below the riverbed (the deep excavation was necessary in order to reach the bedrock on which the foundation of the dam was built),[1][2] making it the deepest dam in the world. The portion of the dam above the foundation stands Script error: No such module "convert". tall, making it the only dam in the world that stands more underground than above ground. The dam's primary functions are to create a reservoir, and to generate hydroelectric power. The reservoir behind the dam is called Lake Havasu and can store Script error: No such module "convert".. The dam straddles the Arizona-California state border at the narrows the river passes through between the Whipple Mountains in San Bernardino County, California and the Buckskin Mountains in La Paz County, Arizona.[3]
The power plant has four Francis turbines with a combined capacity of 120 MW. Each turbine weighs Script error: No such module "convert".. The head is Script error: No such module "convert".. It produces electricity at 97 percent efficiency. Half of the electricity the plant produces is used by the Metropolitan Water District to pump water along the Colorado River Aqueduct, and the rest is sold to utilities in California, Arizona and Nevada. The generation of power is limited by a requirement to keep the water level of Lake Havasu between Script error: No such module "convert". above sea level for proper operation of pumping plants for the Central Arizona Project and the Colorado River Aqueduct.[4]
Lake Havasu is also the water source for the Central Arizona Project Aqueduct (CAP). The project is designed to provide water for irrigated agricultural areas, as well as municipal water for several Arizona communities, including the metropolitan areas of Phoenix and Tucson.[5]
Controversy
Construction of the dam was a contentious issue for Arizona. Built as part of the larger Colorado River Compact of 1922, several political groups, their members and privately owned utility companies in Arizona were not pleased with the plan in general and refused to sign it until 1944. Even then Arizona continued to dispute its water allotments until a 1963 Supreme Courtdecision settled the issue. The court has had to adjust the agreement several times since, most recently in 2000. As recently as 2008 Arizona Senator John McCain called for a renegotiation of the plan.[6]
The Department of the Interior took Arizona to court over the issue hoping to end the state's interference. To the Department of the Interior's surprise, the Supreme Court sided with Arizona and dismissed the injunction. The court concluded that the dam had never been directly approved by Congress and that California was not entitled to build on Arizona's land without Arizona's consent.[8] Arizona eventually agreed to allow the dam in exchange for approval of the Gila River irrigation project.
