A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday marked the completion of a massive construction project expanding water storage at Success Lake and paid tribute to the legacy of longtime Tule River Watermaster Richard L. Schafer.

The event gave more than 60 people who braved a blazing sun and whipping winds a birds’ eye view of the expanded dam. It includes a 10-foot tall, curved ogee weir that spans a massive spillway, which was widened by 165 feet.

Named the Richard L. Schafer Spillway, the $135 million project will increase the lake’s storage capacity by more than 28,000 acre feet to 112,000 acre feet. The project is intended to increase flood protection for the 60,000 residents of Porterville just five miles downstream from the lake along the Tule River.

“Mr. Schafer was one of my mentors and

See Full Page