Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Canyon Dam (California)

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Country
  
United States

Type of dam
  
Earthfill

Height
  
40 m

Catchment area
  
1,303 km²

Create
  
Lake Almanor

Opening date
  
1927

Length
  
1,250 ft (380 m)

Opened
  
1927

Surface area
  
114 km²

Canyon Dam (California) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Location
  
Plumas County, near Westwood, California

Impounds
  
North Fork Feather River

Owner
  
Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Canyon Dam (National ID # CA00327m also known as Lake Almanor Dam) is an embankment dam on the North Fork Feather River in northern California, 16 mi (26 km) southwest of Westwood. Located about 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Chester, the dam forms Lake Almanor, a large and shallow reservoir surrounded by the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Map of Canyon Dam, California, USA

First constructed in 1910 by the Great Western Power Company as part of the Upper North Fork Feather River Project, the dam was originally planned to be built of masonry but was later changed to an earthfill design. The dam's primary purpose was to store water for the Western Canal Company, an irrigation district in the Central Valley and a subsidiary of Great Western. The dam provided flows for a hydroelectric plant about 40 miles (64 km) downstream at the Big Bend Powerhouse, today submerged by the reservoir behind Oroville Dam. Canyon Dam was modified in 1927 and 1962 to increase its usable storage. Today the dam and reservoir, owned by Pacific Gas and Electric, supply water to the 41 megawatt Butt Valley Powerhouse and provide summer flow for six hydroelectric plants on the North Fork Feather River downstream.

References

Canyon Dam (California) Wikipedia