The robust plan to start rebuilding Lake Hodges dam has come to a screeching halt as a new cost analysis has just jumped from $275 million to between roughly $500 million and $700 million. Now, the San Diego Water Authority says they will no longer cover their promised half of the repairs, and the City of San Diego is now weighing alternatives to repairing the 106-year-old dam. … Lake Hodges has been an emergency water supply for San Diego since World War I. Now with the State deeming the dam unsafe to operate in its current condition, 12 billion gallons of water has been released and uncertainty to this manmade lake is in the air.