Drilling equipment and crews will begin collecting soil samples and performing other geotechnical work at Lake Isabella's Auxiliary Dam starting this month. The work is part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' ongoing seepage and seismic investigation.

Last spring, the Corps implemented a reservoir restriction at the lake due to concerns over a potential increase in seepage risk after underground monitoring equipment indicated a rise in water pressure. The Corps discovered the concern while conducting its periodic seismic investigation of the lake's main and auxiliary dams.

Residents living near Isabella Lake can expect to see large drilling and soil collection equipment operating on the dam for most of September and October. Corps adds more funds to Isabella seepage investigation

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Sacramento has secured additional funds for its ongoing seepage and seismic investigations at Lake Isabella.

The Corps has committed an additional $225,000 in this fiscal year for dam safety work at Isabella Lake's auxiliary dam.

This $225,000 is in addition to the $400,000 that has already been added to this year's budget and the original fiscal year budget amount of $328,000.

Funding for Isabella Dam will total $953,000 for 2006.

Another $2 million is reported to be in the budget for fiscal year 2007 and is currently under review in the Senate.

This funding will be used to collect geotechnical and mapping data and create a database to assess the structural foundation of the dam.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers named Lake Isabella's main and auxiliary dams as its top dam safety concern in the nation in a Corps of Engineers Screening Portfolio Risk Assessment last year. The dam received the high ranking primarily due to the potential impact to a large downstream population in the unlikely event of a dam failure and due to seepage and seismic concerns.

For more information, please contact Jeff Hawk at 916-557-5100 or email: Isabella@usace.army.mil

- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers