The morning call., 1893-03-22
THE HEMET DAM.
Completion of a Gigantic
Scheme.
Description of the Immense Granite
Plug That impounds the Waters
of the San Jacinto.
Correspondence of Los Angelo. Times


SAN JACINTo. March II. - The great
Hemet dam is a tangible reality at last.
'At last" however, is out of place here. as
the realization of the enterprise under any
circumstances is a remarkable incident, and
the incredibly short time it took to give
this wonderful achievement of a man
place In history is simply wonderful
a fortnight since the outlet to the upper
waters of the south fork Of the Rio San
Jaeinto was effectualy closed. Until within
the fortnight and for countless centuries
past there were a series of deep, rocky
gorges emptying from every direction into
a deep basin near the summit of the San
Jacinto Mountains. The serrated mount
ain sides which slOped toward this basin
for many miles from all around were as
uninyiting as was the Deep dismal gorge
through which the waters of the basin
burst In their terrible fury after a rain
storm, while the waters of the san
Jaeinto on ordinary occasions played
hide and seek among the powders
and " boxes along the bottom of
the gorge. To-day there is a lake
ninety feet deep, two miles long and three
quarters oil mile wide where the basin in
all its bSrrenneSs had been, and the area of
7J0 acres the lake now covers is being aug
mented daily, as is the depth of this vast
body Of water. The Hemel dam did this,
and through that agency storm water will
be each winter impoundcd, as will every
drop OF the summer rains, for use in irri-
eating the great valleys below.
The officials Of this great enterprise re-
turned Tuesday after inspecting the great
dam for the first time since the outlet TO the
river waters had been closed. The great
volume Of water formed in Lake Hemet"
has accumulated from the heavy and con-
tlnuous rains that have prevailed ever since
the Keystone" was placed, which shut the
water of the San JacintO River from escap-
ing by its old channel.
The Times representative was but a few
hours too late. but too late, nevertheless, to
meet Messrs. Mayberry. Whittier and Stet-
son, the executive officers of the Hemet
Lake Company, upon their retuTnifrOm III
spectng the great work, as they had lust
started for the north by the outbound train &;
through the courtesy of a. Il. Mum. editor
Of the San Jacint0 Register, how ever, the
place was visited and many data secured.
To give an idea what an undertaking this
work was it will be necessary only to say that
the box canyon gorge that was" plugged" up
was but 100 feet wide at the extreme bottom
and fifty feet above is from 30 10 $50 deep.
Thus it was that the dam in the canyon
acting as a cork in a bottle, held the water
in place, and will forever, as the dam was
built from indesLTuctable materials lid
blocks Of granite Weighing many tons
These huge blocks were carefully cut and
fitted, then laid in the best quality OF
cement. The upper and lower faces Of the
dam are uniform, and the heavy granite
blocks there used we're chosen from the
most perfect lodges.
James D. Schuyler, the eminent civil en-
giurer, who, IN the early history OF the
Hemet dam, as consulting engineer, had
more or less 10 do with tue plans afterWard
adopted, says the Hemet dam IS the highest
on the continent and will mpound more
water than any other of anything nearing
its Dimensions The dam is now 1l0 feet
high, and the water from the late rains
filed the lake until 1t showed a depth of
ninety feet Al tine dam. Engineer Schuyler,
In making his calculations, showed how the
dam could be built TO a height of $50 feet,
and in reality has laid his foundations to
receive greater height. With a depth Of
$50 feet Of water the lake would contain not
less than S, S,500,o00,000 gallons Of water: at
100 feet depth half as much more, or nearly
twice the capacity Of the great SWeetwater
dam.
AS to the supply to this lake, it was OBJ
served that an ordinary rain would start,
within an hour or two, the stream 10 flow
from its normal condition to from 250,0O0,-
go TO SOC. 600. 900 gallons daily, diminishing
to the ormai low-water flow Of about one
tenth the latter within fifteen and twenty
hours. Each rain would add from 90, ,0O0 600
TO 200. .000, coo gallons of water 20 this reserve
supply, while the evaporation would be
more than Offset from the regular flow of
the stream.
There is now enough water In the lake to
water vast amount of land, and with four
feet Of snow in the mountains and more
! rains on top the lake viii be well filed all