Red Bluff Dam – Orla TX

Description

In 1916, the Pecos Valley of Texas Water Users Association (which consisted of the Porterville, Farmers Independent, Cedarvale/Imperial, Barstow, Big Valley-Grandfalls, Imperial and Zimmerman irrigation districts) filed a petition with the U.S. Secretary of the Interior to request that a dam be constructed across the Pecos River to provide irrigation for farmlands from Red Bluff to the town of Grandfalls.

The Public Works Administration (PWA) provided a $2,206,000 loan and $722,000 grant for the project, whose total cost was $2,982,895. The project was identified as a power and water project in a PWA report.

TAMU: “In 1934, construction of the Red Bluff Dam finally commenced with seven Texas irrigation districts and the federal Public Works Administration financing the effort.” Work on the dam was completed in 1939. “Red Bluff Reservoir drains an area of 20,720 square miles and has a storage capacity of more than 307,000 acre-feet. The reservoir is used for irrigation of 145,000 acres of farmland.”