Type Reservoir Primary outflows Spring Creek Max. length .5 km (0.31 mi) Length 500 m Shore length 2 km | Primary inflows Basin countries United States Surface elevation 245 m Width 250 m | |
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Location Shasta-Trinity National Forest
Shasta County, California Similar Spring Creek Dam, Keswick Dam, Shasta Dam, Sacramento Zoo, Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary | ||
The Spring Creek Reservoir is the artificial lake created by the construction of the Spring Creek Dam across Spring Creek in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest of Shasta County, California, adjacent to Keswick.
Map of Spring Creek Reservoir, Shasta, CA 96001, USA
The reservoir is used mostly for flood control storage, and is rarely filled to its 5,870 acre·ft (7,240,000 m3) capacity. During the dry season, water from Spring Creek pools in a small, stagnant pond retained behind the dam, depositing contaminated sediment and acidic mine waste in the reservoir space. When flows from the Shasta Dam, upstream on the Sacramento River, are sufficient to flush contaminated water away, water held in the reservoir is released through the outlet works into the Keswick Reservoir and the Sacramento River. Despite this operation strategy, the reservoir was eventually deemed inadequate for the watershed, and can be filled to capacity by a single heavy storm event. Uncontrollable spills frequently poured into the Sacramento River during floods, through the crest spillway of the dam, which lacks gates. As a result, numerous fish kills have occurred during these sudden releases of contaminants, a major one of which was in 1969.