Project Information

 

Background Information:

The West Cataract Creek Dam is an earthen dam located in Coconino County, Arizona. It is attached to Cataract Lake, which is located west of Interstate 40. This dam has been marked as a "significant" safety concern by the state of Arizona. The city of Williams is around 2 miles away from this dam. As of October of 2013, Arizona Department of Water Resources has completed a static dam break analysis detailing the downstream effects of a dam break. More information can be found in the Final Report within the Documents section.

 

Potential Challenges:

Because a dam can fail in a multitude of ways, we will be specifically looking for the following possibilities when analyzing the dam's safety.

-Overtopping: An event in which the volume of water exceeds the dam's capacity.

-Slope Failure: An event in which the weight of water exceeds the stability of the dam, causing it to slide or move.

-Internal Erosion: Internal erosion most often occurs in earthen dams. This occurs when the pressure of the water behind the dam forces water through the dam. If the pressure is too great, then the water will move soil out of the dam as it passes through, thereby weakening the dam.

-Spillway Failure: An event in which the spillways are not adequate in holding back overtopping water.

 

Schedule:

Stakeholders:

The key stakeholders for this project are as follows

-The City of Williams: created the dam in 1947

-US Kaibab National Forest: current owners of the dam and lake

-Arizona Game and Fish Department: stocks the lake with fish

Client:

-Mark Lamer

-Mark.Lamer@nau.edu

-928-523-3435

Acknowledgments:

-Arizona Department of Water Resources

-Craig Brown (ADWR dam safety engineer)

-Dr. Charles Schlinger (Capstone Professor and Technical Advisor)

-Dr. Bridget Bero (Capstone Professor)

-Dr. Wilbert Odem (Capstone Prep Professor)