When a water request from Lake Mead is made, it takes time to travel the canal system to its destination.

[citation needed] It has a small maximum volume of only 8,000 acre-feet (2,600 million US gallons), but is expected to be filled and emptied many times each year.

The basins are enclosed by earthen berms lined with polyethylene and covered with a 10 inches (250 mm) layer of soil cement.

The district can open and close the inlet and outlet gates and regulate the amount of water diverted into the reservoir and returned to the main system.

[2] The reservoir, named after an Imperial Valley farmer and agriculture researcher Warren H. Brock, solves the problem of unused Colorado River water in the All-American Canal being 'lost' to Mexico.