It provides water conservation storage and is also the central element of the Los Angeles County Drainage Area (LACDA) flood control system.

In September 2017, the United States Army Corps of Engineers officials warned local residents that the dam no longer met the agency’s 'tolerable-risk' guidelines and could fail in the event of a very large, very rare storm, similar to exceptionally intense California storms which occurred between December 1861 and January 1862, a so-called ARkStorm[1][2] Authorization for the project construction is contained in the Flood Control Act of 18 August 1941 (PL 77-228) and the initial funds for construction were provided in the 1949 Appropriations Bill.

[3] The purpose of the project is to collect runoff from the uncontrolled drainage areas upstream along with releases into the San Gabriel River from the Santa Fe Dam.

During the initial stages of a flood event, the gates on the Rio Hondo side are partially closed to build a water conservation pool.

The spreading grounds are operated by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works to recharge the groundwater basin.