Plan
Nimbus Powerplant is a run-of-the-river plant and provides station service backup for Folsom Powerplant. Nimbus Dam forms Lake Natoma to reregulate the releases for power made through Folsom Powerplant. Nimbus Dam is a concrete gravity structure 87 feet high and 28 feet wide at the crest. The crest is 1,093 feet long. Normal operations. Maintain and regulate river releases. Western Electricity Coordinating Council, California-Southern Nevada Power Area Western Area Power Administration, Sierra Nevada Region Conventional Above Ground Kaplan 13,500 kW 13,500 kW 1955 52 years 51,097,000 kWh 2007 20 ft
History
Funds for construction of the initial features of the Central Valley Project were provided by the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 (49 Stat. 115). The Secretary of the Interior authorized the project and the President approved it on December 2, 1935.
The Central Valley Project, one of the Nation's major water conservation developments, extends from the Cascade Range on the north to the semiarid but fertile plains along the Kern River on the south. Initial features of the project were built primarily to protect the Central Valley from crippling water shortages and menacing floods. New project units were built to provide water and power to match the continued growth of the State.
Although developed primarily for irrigation, this multiple-purpose project also provides flood control, improves Sacramento River navigation, supplies domestic and industrial water, generates electric power, conserves fish and wildlife, creates opportunities for recreation, and enhances water quality.