05/19/2026
🚧 TIME FOR THE SOUTH GATE DAM TO COME OUT? 🚧
It hasn’t functioned properly in over two decades if not longer.
Many people believe this dam was simply a salinity weir (constructed in 1931) used to irrigate the orange groves that once covered what is now South Gate. But the current structure is not that original dam.
In 1961, after many epic floods in the late 1950s early 1960s, the original salinity dam was destroyed and replaced with a low-water weir (1962). That weir has never been properly maintained, and during storms it becomes a hazard to surrounding neighborhoods, collecting debris like lawn chairs, vegetation, and anything else flowing downstream.
The structure also prevents Phillippi Creek from functioning as a truly navigable waterway. Residents above the dam are paying both stormwater taxes and navigable waterway taxes, yet this structure impedes navigation while also contributing to flooding and debris buildup. There are already funds available and dedicated to taking it out from FEMA and Resilient SRQ.
A recent New York times article about the undamming America, that inspired this post:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/climate/america-the-undammed.html
