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Completed in 03/1941, the Prado Dam was one of six built in Southern California during the Depression by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The Federal Government first allocated money for the Prado Dam in 1936, authorizing the Corps to plan and build the earthen dam to control the Santa Ana River winter and spring flooding. The Santa Ana's severe flood in early 03/1938 (which killed at least 50 residents and many head of livestock) convinced local and Federal authorities of the importance of damming the river. A reservoir formed behind the dam in 1941 which also flooded the town of Prado (originally named "Rincon"), once a small farming community. The dam and town originally composed a portion of the Mexican land grant agricultural estate, Rancho El Rincon, a 4,431-acre land grant deeded to Juan Bandini (1800-1859) by Governor Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo (1809-1882) in 1839.

Tel: 213.452.3402 (2012).

In 2003, the US Army Corps of Engineers sought to raise the 162-foot high, 2,200-foot long earthen fill dam by 28 feet, possibly increasing the size of the 6,600-acre Prado Flood Control Basin. Rains on 01/14/2005 caused leakage through the dam, necessitating repairs. More recently, the Reinforced Earth Company and the E.L. Yeager Construction Company collaborated with the Corps of Engineers on the building of a new intake tower at the Prado Dam. (See "Prado Dam, CA,"Accessed 06/13/2012.)

PCAD id: 17912