French Lake Reservoir

Last updated
French Lake Reservoir
French Lake Panorama (9123780892).jpg
Relief map of California.png
Red pog.svg
French Lake Reservoir
Location Nevada County, California, United States
Coordinates 39°25′15″N120°32′32″W / 39.420700°N 120.542248°W / 39.420700; -120.542248
Built1859;165 years ago (1859),
reconstructed 1948;76 years ago (1948)
Surface area1.36 km2 (0.53 sq mi)
Water volumeMax 17,000,000 m3 (14,000 acre⋅ft)
References [1]

French Lake Reservoir (National ID # CA00247) is a reservoir in Nevada County, California.

Contents

The earthen, rock-fill French Lake Dam was first constructed in 1859, and is a candidate for the first use of rock-fill in an engineered dam. [1] Reconstructed in 1948, it impounds Canyon Creek for flood control, irrigation water storage, municipal drinking water, and hydropower. The dam is 100 feet (30 m) high, with a length of 300 feet (91 m) at its crest. [2] It is one of ten facilities operated by Nevada Irrigation District.

Overview

French Lake Reservoir has a surface area of 337 acres (136 ha) and a maximum capacity of 13,800 acre-feet (17,000,000 m3). The site is surrounded by Tahoe National Forest. The adjacent namesake townsite of French Lake, California is a ghost town of the California Gold Rush era.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Isabella</span> Reservoir in California, United States

Lake Isabella also called Isabella Lake, is a reservoir in Kern County, California, United States created by the earthen Isabella Dam. At 11,000 acres (4,500 ha), it is one of the larger reservoirs in California. Lake Isabella is located about 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Bakersfield, and is the main water supply for that city. It was formed in 1953 when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Kern River at the junction of its two forks. The area is in the southern end of the Sierra Nevada range and the lake itself is located in low mountains at an elevation of approximately 2,500 ft (760 m) where summer temperatures reach over 100 °F (38 °C) but low enough to avoid winter snows on the surrounding ridges. The former towns of Isabella and Kernville were flooded when the reservoir was created.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Melones Dam</span> Dam in California

New Melones Dam is an earth and rock filled embankment dam on the Stanislaus River, about 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Jamestown, California, United States, on the border of Calaveras County and Tuolumne County. The water impounded by the 625-foot-tall (191 m) dam forms New Melones Lake, California's fourth-largest reservoir, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada east of the San Joaquin Valley. The dam serves mainly for irrigation water supply, and also provides hydropower generation, flood control, and recreation benefits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Luis Dam</span> Dam in Merced County, California

San Luis Dam, also known as B.F. Sisk Dam, is a major earth-filled dam in Merced County, California, which forms San Luis Reservoir, the largest off-stream reservoir in the United States. The dam and reservoir are located in the Diablo Range to the east of Pacheco Pass and about 10 miles (16 km) west of Los Banos. San Luis Dam, a jointly-owned state and federal facility, stores more than 2 million acre feet (2.5 km3) of water for the California State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project. Although the dam is located in the valley of San Luis Creek, the majority of its water comes from man-made aqueducts which are supplied from other rivers in Northern California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuba River</span> Waterway in Northern California

The Yuba River is a tributary of the Feather River in the Sierra Nevada and eastern Sacramento Valley, in the U.S. state of California. The main stem of the river is about 40 miles (64 km) long, and its headwaters are split into three major forks. The Yuba River proper is formed at the North Yuba and Middle Yuba rivers' confluence, with the South Yuba joining a short distance downstream. Measured to the head of the North Yuba River, the Yuba River is just over 100 miles (160 km) long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Dam</span> Dam in Trinity County, California

Trinity Dam is an earthfill dam on the Trinity River located about 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Weaverville, California in the United States. The dam was completed in the early 1960s as part of the federal Central Valley Project to provide irrigation water to the arid San Joaquin Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake McClure</span> Reservoir in Mariposa County, California

Lake McClure is a reservoir in the Sierra Nevada foothills of western Mariposa County, California, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Spicer Meadow Reservoir</span> Reservoir in California, U.S.

New Spicer Meadow Reservoir is a reservoir in the Sierra Nevada, within the Stanislaus National Forest in eastern Tuolumne County, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courtright Reservoir</span> Reservoir in Fresno County, California

Courtright Reservoir is a reservoir in Fresno County, California. The reservoir is at an elevation of 8,170 feet in the Sierra National Forest, in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, bordering the John Muir Wilderness and the Dinkey Lakes Wilderness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherry Lake</span> Reservoir in Tuolumne County, California

Cherry Lake is an artificial lake in the Stanislaus National Forest of Tuolumne County, California, U.S.A., about 25 miles (40 km) east of the city of Sonora. It is at an elevation of 4,700 feet (1,433 m) on the western side of the Sierra Nevada, and lies just outside the western boundary of Yosemite National Park. The lake has a capacity of 273,500 acre⋅ft (337,400,000 m3) and is formed by Cherry Valley Dam on Cherry Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frenchman Lake (California)</span> Reservoir in Plumas County, California

Frenchman Lake is a reservoir located in southeastern Plumas County, California. It was created by the damming of Little Last Chance Creek in 1961, as part of the California State Water Project. It was named after its tributary Frenchman Creek, which in turn was named after Claude Francois Seltier, a French immigrant who settled in the area in 1858.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bear River (Feather River tributary)</span> River in California, United States

The Bear River is a tributary of the Feather River in the Sierra Nevada, winding through four California counties: Yuba, Sutter, Placer, and Nevada. About 73 miles (117 km) long, the river flows generally southwest through the Sierra then west through the Central Valley, draining a narrow, rugged watershed of 295 square miles (760 km2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">French Meadows Reservoir</span>

French Meadows Reservoir is a manmade lake 36 miles (58 km) northeast of Foresthill, California, United States on the Middle Fork of the American River. The reservoir is 2.9 miles (4.7 km) long, 0.6-mile (0.97 km) wide, with 7.3 miles (11.7 km) of shoreline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scotts Flat Reservoir</span> Reservoir in Nevada County, California

Scotts Flat Reservoir is an artificial lake in the Tahoe National Forest of Nevada County, California, 6.5 miles (10.5 km) east of Nevada City. The lake is at an elevation of 3,100 ft (940 m) and has a surface area of 850 acres (340 ha), with 7.5 miles (12.1 km) of shoreline lined with pine trees. Amenities consist of two launch ramps, a marina, campsites, a picnic area, sandy beaches, and a general store.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Exchequer Dam</span> Dam in Mariposa County, California

New Exchequer Dam is a concrete–faced, rock-fill dam on the Merced River in central California in the United States. It forms Lake McClure, which impounds the river for irrigation and hydroelectric power production and has a capacity of more than 1,000,000 acre-feet (1.2 km3). The Merced Irrigation District (MID) operates the dam and was also responsible for its construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridgeport Reservoir</span> Reservoir in Mono County, California

Bridgeport Reservoir is a lake at the lower end of Bridgeport Valley in Mono County, California. Its earth-filled dam was constructed in 1923 by the Walker River Irrigation District, along the East Walker River. The lake has a storage capacity of 42,455 acre-feet (52,367,000 m3) and is regulated by a Federal Watermaster supplying primarily agricultural irrigation and flood control for Lyon County, Nevada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Don Pedro Dam</span> Dam in California

New Don Pedro Dam, often known simply as Don Pedro Dam, is an earthen embankment dam across the Tuolumne River, about 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of La Grange, in Tuolumne County, California. The dam was completed in 1971, after four years of construction, to replace the 1924 concrete-arch Don Pedro Dam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stampede Dam</span>

Stampede Dam is a dam in Sierra County, California, impounding the Little Truckee River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Tahoe Dam</span> Dam in California, United States

Lake Tahoe Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Truckee River, at the outlet of Lake Tahoe in Placer County, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuba–Bear Hydroelectric Project</span>

The Yuba–Bear Hydroelectric Project is a complex hydroelectric scheme in the northern Sierra Nevada in California, tapping the upper Yuba River and Bear River drainage basins. The project area encompasses approximately 400 square miles (1,000 km2) in Nevada, Placer, and Sierra Counties. Owned by the Nevada Irrigation District, it consists of 16 storage dams plus numerous diversion and regulating dams, and four generating stations producing 425 million kilowatt hours of electricity each year. The Yuba–Bear Hydroelectric Project consists of the Bowman development, Dutch Flat No. 2 development, Chicago Park development, and Rollins development.

References

  1. 1 2 Journal of the Soil Mechanics and Foundations Division, Volume 92, page 135
  2. http://findlakes.com/main.php?french%20lake [ dead link ]