- New Melones Dam
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New Melones Dam 
Location Sierra Nevada foothills
Calaveras County, California
Tuolumne County, CaliforniaCoordinates 37°56′57″N 120°31′27″W / 37.94917°N 120.52417°WCoordinates: 37°56′57″N 120°31′27″W / 37.94917°N 120.52417°W Construction began 1966 Opening date 1979 Dam and spillways Height 625 ft (191 m) Length 1,560 ft (480 m) Crest width 40 ft (12 m) Impounds Stanislaus River Spillways Uncontrolled overflow Spillway capacity 112,600 cu ft/s (3,190 m3/s) Reservoir Creates New Melones Lake Capacity 2,400,000 acre·ft (3.0 km3) Catchment area 900 sq mi (2,300 km2) Surface area 12,500 acres (5,100 ha) Power station Commission date 1979 Hydraulic head 480 ft (150 m) (rated) Turbines 2 x 150 MW Francis-type Installed capacity 300 MW[1] New Melones Dam is an earth and rock filled dam across the Stanislaus River creating New Melones Lake. Situated between Calaveras and Tuolumne County, California in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Jamestown, the dam was completed in 1979 replacing the old Melones Dam.
Contents
Background
Old Melones Dam
The dam was constructed to replace the 183 ft (56 m) tall Melones Dam, an arch dam which was constructed in 1926 by the Oakdale and South San Joaquin Irrigation Districts. The new dam was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1944 and reauthorized by the Flood Control Act of 1966 with an increase in height from a 355 ft (108 m) arch dam to 625 ft (191 m) tall embankment dam. Construction on the New Melones Dam began in July 1966 and the diversion tunnel was complete by 1973. On March 6, 1974, construction on the dam began and it was completed on October 28, 1978. By the end of 1978, the power plant was complete and it was commissioned in 1979. The filling of the reservoir began in 1983.[2]
The United States Bureau of Reclamation operates the dam. New Melones Dam's primary purpose is to provide water for irrigation. It is a 625 ft (191 m) high earth and rock-filled structure creating a 2,400,000 acre·ft (3.0 km3) reservoir.[3]
The dam has a hydroelectric plant with a capacity of 300 MW. It has three vertical Francis turbines and a head of 460 ft (140 m). The plant has a low capacity factor and operates as a peaking facility, which means that it operates mostly during times of peak electricity demand.[1]
Controversy
The dam was one of the last built in California, as the environmental movement gained support, and as such was fiercely opposed by groups such as the Sierra Club, as well as many individuals who saw the canyon of the Stanislaus River as having value far beyond a reservoir. On May 20, 1979, Mark Dubois hiked into the dam site and chained himself to a boulder in the dam's floodpath, intending to block the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from filling New Melones Lake. His protest action succeeded in temporarily securing a reprieve for the Class III whitewater rapids above the Parrott's Ferry Bridge. However, in 1983 due to a severe El Niño event and subsequent flood, the reservoir was finally allowed to reach full design capacity.
Several cave-dwelling species that were threatened by the construction were transplanted to an abandoned mine, among them Banksula melones, the Melones cave harvestman.
See also
References
- ^ a b "New Melones Powerplant". U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. http://www.usbr.gov/projects/Powerplant.jsp?fac_Name=New%20Melones%20Powerplant. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
- ^ "New Melones Unit Project". U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. http://www.usbr.gov/projects/Project.jsp?proj_Name=New%20Melones%20Unit%20Project. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
- ^ "New Melones Dam". U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. http://www.usbr.gov/projects/Facility.jsp?fac_Name=New+Melones+Dam&groupName=Dimensions. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
- Department of Water Resources (2009). "Station Meta Data: New Melones Dam (NML)". California Data Exchange Center. State of California. http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/profile?s=NML&type=dam. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
External links
- New Melones Dam
- New Melones Power Plant
- Post-Audit of New Melones Dam, by Kimra Dawn McAfee (Master's Thesis, May 2000)
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: (Tuolumne County)
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: (Calaveras County)
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:- Buildings and structures in Calaveras County, California
- Dams in California
- Buildings and structures in Tuolumne County, California
- Hydroelectric power plants in California
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