LAKE PERRIS – (INT) – Upgrades on the Lake Perris Dam are imminent.

Construction is about to begin.

Program Manager Dave Sampson at the Department of Water Resources says a contract to upgrade the dam with a stability berm has just been awarded to a San Diego firm.

The $75.5 million project comes nine years after a study cast doubt on the stability of the Lake Perris Dam in the event of a major earthquake on the nearby San Jacinto Fault.

Still to come is construction of an outflow channel. It would handle the release of excess water from Lake Perris into the existing Perris Valley Flood Control Channel.

Once repairs are complete, the lake will be refilled to its previous level.

Story Date: August 4, 2014