It is a concrete arch gravity structure 149 feet (45 m) high,[1] and serves to store water from the San Diego Aqueduct's third pipeline for backup municipal uses in the San Diego metropolitan area.

The dam is named in honor of H. N. Savage, who directed its construction.

[2] The dam was originally completed in 1897 as an earthfill and steel structure called Otay Dam by the Southern California Mountain Water Company to provide water storage.

However, in 1916, heavy rains supposedly brought on by Charles Hatfield, a "rainmaker", hired by the city of San Diego to put an end to a drought, caused the dam to burst.

The failure sent a wall of water 40 feet (12 m) high downstream, destroying buildings and bridges, and washing thousands of tons of sediment and wreckage into San Diego Bay.