Relief Dam

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Relief Reservoir Emigrant Wilderness.jpg

Relief Dam is a rockfill dam on Summit Creek, a tributary of the Middle Fork Stanislaus River, in Tuolumne County, California. The dam is part of the Spring Gap-Stanislaus Hydroelectric Project, and is owned and operated by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). [1] [2]

Completed in 1910 the dam stands 145 feet (44 m) above the riverbed and is 505 feet (154 m) long at the crest. Altogether it contains 136,984 cubic yards (104,732 m3) of fill. [3] The dam forms Relief Reservoir, which has a storage capacity of 15,122 acre-feet (18,653,000 m3) of water and a full surface area of 189 acres (76 ha). The drainage basin behind the dam totals 24.51 square miles (63.5 km2). [3]

The reservoir is primarily drawn down in the late summer and fall to supplement flows to the hydroelectric powerhouses at Donnells Dam and Beardsley Dam (part of the separate PG&E Tri-Dam Project) and others on the Stanislaus River. [2]

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References

  1. "Water Quality Certification | California State Water Resources Control Board".
  2. 1 2 http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/waterrights/water_issues/programs/water_quality_cert/docs/springgap_stanislaus_ferc2130/401cert.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  3. 1 2 "California Data Exchange Center".

Coordinates: 38°16′53″N119°44′01″W / 38.2814°N 119.7336°W / 38.2814; -119.7336