- O'Neill Dam
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O'Neill Dam
O'Neill Forebay and Dam as seen from left bank.Official name O'Neill Dam Location Merced County, California Coordinates 37°04′50″N 121°02′50″W / 37.0805°N 121.0472°W Construction began 1963 Opening date 1967 Dam and spillways Height 87.5 ft (26.7 m) Length 14,300 ft (4,400 m) Base width 124 ft (38 m) Impounds San Luis Creek Reservoir Creates O'Neill Forebay Capacity 56,400 acre·ft (69,600,000 m3) Catchment area 18 sq mi (47 km2) Surface area 2,250 acres (910 ha) U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: O'Neill Dam O'Neill Dam is an earthfill dam on San Luis Creek, 12 miles (19 km) west of Los Banos, California, on the eastern slopes of the Pacific Coast Ranges of Merced County. Forming the O'Neill Forebay, a forebay to the San Luis Reservoir, it is roughly 2.5 miles (4.0 km) downstream from the San Luis Dam.
Contents
Background
Built from 1963 to 1967, the dam is an earthfill and rockfill construction stretching over three miles (5 km) across the valley of San Luis Creek. A morning-glory type spillway lies at the left bank of the reservoir. At 87.5 feet (26.7 m) high, with a maximum reservoir depth of 57 feet (17 m), the crest of the dam is 14,300 feet (4,400 m) long, at an elevation of 223 feet (68 m). The spillway is, as mentioned before, a morning-glory (inverted bell) design, capacity 3,250 cubic feet (92 m3) per second, and with a circumference of 641.5 feet (195.5 m).
Reservoir
The O'Neill Forebay reservoir is fed by releases from the San Luis Dam as well as from the Delta–Mendota Canal. Water from the Delta–Mendota Canal is lifted a vertical distance of 8 feet (2.4 m) into a channel running 2,200 feet (670 m) into the forebay.[1] The peak inflow to the forebay is 15,600 cubic feet (440 m3) per second, from both the San Luis Dam and the Delta–Mendota Canal. Drainage area of the reservoir downstream of the San Luis Dam is only 18 acres (0.073 km2). The O'Neill Pumping-Generating Plant produces 28 megawatts.[1] Irregular water releases from the San Luis Dam and William R. Gianelli Powerplant are collected in the reservoir of the O'Neill Dam, which has a capacity of 56,400 acre feet (69,600,000 m3).
References
- ^ a b Bureau of Reclamation (2009). "O'Neill Dam". Projects and Facilities Database. U.S. Department of the Interior. http://www.usbr.gov/projects/Facility.jsp?fac_Name=O%60Neill+Dam. Retrieved 2009-04-28.
- Department of Water Resources (2009). "Station Meta Data: O'Neill Forebay (ONF)". California Data Exchange Center. State of California. http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/profile?s=ONF&type=dam. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
External links
- "O'Neill Forebay". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. 19-Jan-1981. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:254988. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
Central Valley Project Infrastructure Dams Auburn Dam · B.F. Sisk Dam · Folsom Dam · Friant Dam · Lewiston Dam · New Melones Dam · Nimbus Dam · O'Neill Dam · Red Bluff Diversion Dam · San Justo Dam · Shasta Dam · Sly Park Dam · Spring Creek Dam · Sugar Pine Dam · Trinity Dam · Whiskeytown Dam
Reservoirs Folsom Lake · Millerton Lake · Lake Natoma · New Melones Lake · O'Neill Forebay · San Luis Reservoir · Sugar Pine Reservoir · Shasta Lake · Trinity Lake · Whiskeytown Lake
Aqueducts and canals Clear Creek Tunnel · Contra Costa Canal · Corning Canal · Delta Cross Channel · Delta–Mendota Canal · Friant-Kern Canal · Madera Canal · San Luis Canal · Tehama-Colusa Canal
Rivers American River · Clear Creek · Chowchilla River · Kern River · Sacramento River · San Joaquin River · San Luis Creek · Stanislaus River
Categories:- Dams in California
- Buildings and structures in Merced County, California
- Pumped storage power stations
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