Cathedral City shows off new Eagle Canyon Dam

Cathedral City’s new Eagle Canyon flood control dam is now officially completed.

City and Riverside County leaders gathered Thursday morning for a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony, and tours, to mark the occasion.

Riverside County 4th District Supervisor, John Benoit, said “I’m told, in January, if we hadn’t got this done we’d have had another chance to drive in mud on Highway 111.”

Benoit wasn’t alone in praising the $10.6 million project’s completion.

Mayor Stan Henry said the new dam, “will also help lower the flood insurance rates for not only the residents but also the businesses along East Palm Canyon.”

A series of flash floods have washed across Cathedral city’s East Palm Canyon Drive over the years, the most recent in August of 2012.

It stranded motorists and flooded nearby homes and businesses with water and mud.

Officials at Thursday’s event said that type of flooding won’t happen here anymore.

But several nearby businesses along Perez Road, just to the east of the dam, are still struggling financially.

They say they suffered great financial losses during construction of the $5 million outlet pipeline.

Matt Finnell of Valley Smog and Auto Repair said the contractors who built the underground pipeline next to his business, and down his access road, made it nearly impossible for customers to reach his business for months.

Finnell said, “From the data that we have from the year before, day over day sales, we lost close to $100 thousand. And we don’t know how many customers we’ve lost beyond that.”

The pipeline project was started last April and was completed just last month, several months later than it’s september timeline.

“Oh it’s really difficult,” said Finnell. “Just trying to make it month to month as a small business. You’re already working on small margins as it is,” Finnell added.

Supervisor Benoit wouldn’t comment on specifics about the Perez Road businesses, or their claims against the conractor, Granite Construction.

Benoit did say, “Obviously there’s legal actions pending. We try to minimize as much as possible the impacts.”

Benoit added, Granite performed well and did what it could to minimize inconveniences for motorists, residents and businesses along East Palm Canyon.

Even with the financial damages to sort out, the Eagle Canyon Dam and Debris Basin is designed to provide protection from a 100-year flood event, an inflow rate equal to filling 50-swimming pools per minute.

Officials say that should make flash floods below the dam a thing of the past.