In 1961 twelve land owners in the area came together and voted to form the Magma Flood Control District (MFCD). With major financial and technical assistance from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), in 1964 MFCD constructed the Magma Flood Retarding Structure (“Magma FRS” or the “Dam”). Originally, the Dam was built to protect agricultural lands, but as the years passed, many more people moved downstream of the Dam. As the downstream population grew, Arizona’s Dam safety regulations required that the Dam be improved to meet the standards of a high hazard Dam (a Dam which primarily protects human life vs. the primarily agricultural purpose for which this Dam was originally constructed).

Additionally, as the Dam aged, Arizona’s Dam safety regulations also required improvements to the Dam to ensure the structure’s integrity and regulator’s confidence that the Dam would serve its intended flood control function. In 1994-1995, construction was completed on the Dam to address potential cracking safety issues in the deepest portion of the embankment. From 2011-2014 the first phase of major rehabilitation construction was completed on the Dam. From 2015-2016 the second phase of major rehabilitation construction was completed on the Dam. In February of 2017, the Dam Safety section of the Arizona Department of Water Resources issued the license of approval for the Magma FRS as a high hazard dam. With proper operation and maintenance the recent dam rehabilitation is expected to have a 100-year useful life.