Shasta/Trinity River Division Project

Related Facilities

History

The Yana and Atsigewi inhabited the Shasta region before the influx of European settlers. Because the Spanish concentrated their missions along the coast of California, much of the region remained uninhabited by Europeans until the 1840s. The discovery of gold in California brought floods of white immigrants to the state. Many immigrants` attention soon turned from the lure of the goldfields to the seemingly more stable agricultural fields. Yet unstable water supplies made agriculture in the Central Valley almost as much a gamble as prospecting for gold. In the dust bowl depression era, many people migrated to California and needed reliable water supply and conveyance systems. California designed the Central Valley Project to control Sacramento River floods and to transfer water to the dry lands of the San Joaquin Valley. The State was unable to finance the project and could not get the project approved for loans and grants under the National Recovery Act. Settlement of the Shasta area accelerated with the start of construction of Shasta Dam. The increased job opportunities brought hundreds of families to the region. They created new communities including Project City, Summit City, Central Valley (formerly Boomtown), and Santa Claus. The proximity of Shasta Dam increased the value of submarginal lands. Owners subdivided the land and sold it to businesses and residents at inflated prices. After Shasta Dam was completed, Shasta Lake placed an obstacle in the path of people commuting near the reservoir. To relieve the problem, Reclamation started a ferry operation on the lake in 1945, for businesses and individuals needing to traverse the new body of water. Reclamation established the Sacramento Valley District on December 14, 1945, and abolished the Kennett Division on September 5, 1946. On April 27, 1949, the fifth unit started operation in Shasta Powerplant, 5 years after the first unit started. On July 2, 1949, Reclamation started guided tours for the public at Shasta. Completion of all facilities at the dam occurred in 1950. Reclamation formally dedicated Shasta Dam as the key structure of the Central Valley Project on June 17, 1950. Shasta spilled for the first time on May 18, 1952. Estimates indicated the town of Redding and Shasta County increased in population by 40 percent after the beginning of operations. Redding and Shasta County increased greatly by 1990. The 1990 census recorded a population of 66,462 in Redding. Shasta County had 147,036 residents. Central Valley had a population of 4,340 in 1990. In the 1970s, controversy grew around migratory fish species, primarily Chinook salmon and steelhead trout, and how the presence of dams on the Shasta Division affected them. Shasta and Keswick Dams blocked a large number of streams tributary to the Sacramento River that were used for spawning by the migratory fish. Fish traps and hatcheries combined to move the migrating fish upstream or artificially breed them, but they could not stop the decline in the population of migratory aquatic wildlife. Shasta Dam not only blocked migration upstream, but it blocked the flow of cool water downstream, keeping water temperature above the maximum fifty-six degrees fahrenheit necessary for the spawning salmon. Beginning in 1992, Reclamation bypassed the turbines in Shasta Powerplant and released water directly into the Sacramento River to improve conditions for the endangered winter-run Chinook salmon.

Plan

The Shasta and Trinity River Divisions catch the headwaters of the network of Central Valley Project waterways and channel the water southward. Both divisions are part of the Central Valley Project. They are close to each another, with the Shasta Division on the Sacramento River about 10 miles north of Redding and the TrinityRiver Division on the Trinity River about 25 miles northwest of Redding. Surplus water from the Trinity River Basin is stored, regulated, and diverted through a system of dams, reservoirs, tunnels, and powerplants into the Sacramento River for use in water-deficient areas of the Central Valley Basin. Water is used for irrigation, power generation, navigation flows, environmental and wildlife conservation, and municipal and industrial needs. Reservoirs of both divisions provide boating, fishing, swimming, water skiing, camping, hunting, and sightseeing, which are enjoyed by nearly a million tourists annually. The Forest Service administers The Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area. The Shasta Division has a drainage area of 6,665 square miles and a storage capacity of 4,552,000 acre-feet. It consists of Shasta Dam and Shasta Lake, Shasta Powerplant, and Keswick Dam and Powerplant. Operations Keswick Dam acts as Shasta Dam`s afterbay, stabilizing the erratic water flow released through Shasta Powerplant. Keswick Reservoir captures water diverted from the Trinity River through the Trinity River Division. Keswick Powerplant further generates power using Sacramento River water. Shasta Dam, on the Sacramento River near Redding, California, serves to control floodwaters and store surplus winter runoff for irrigation in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, maintain navigation flows, provide flows for the conservation of fish in the Sacramento River and water for municipal and industrial use, protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta from intrusion of saline ocean water, and generate hydroelectric power. Shasta Dam is the second largest dam in mass in the United States (Grand Coulee on the Columbia River in Washington State is the largest). The dam is 602 feet high, with a crest length of 3,460 feet. It is 883 feet thick at the bottom and 30 feet thick at the top. Shasta Dam is a curved concrete gravity-type dam with 6.5 million cubic yards of concrete weighing 15 million tons. Construction of the dam started in 1938 and ended in 1945. The spillway is 487 feet long--the largest manmade waterfall in the world. It is 375 feet wide with three drum gates each 110 feet wide, 28 feet tall, and weighing 500 tons each. There are 18 outlets on the face of the dam, each 8 ? feet in diameter with a maximum capacity of 186,000 cubic feet per second. Reclamation offers a virtual tour of Shasta Dam and powerplant. Shasta Lake is the largest manmade reservoir in California, with a capacity of 4,552,000 acre-feet. There are 365 miles of shoreline, 35 miles at its longest point (the Pit River Arm). Shasta Lake provides abundant recreation, including boating, fishing, swimming, water skiing, camping, hunting, and houseboating. Many summer home sites have been developed along the shore, some accessible only by boat. Many resorts cater to the needs of the visitors to the Shasta Lake Recreation Area. Shasta Powerplant is just below Shasta Dam on the Sacramento River in Shasta County, California, nine miles northwest of Redding, California. At 156 feet tall --as tall as a 15-story building--it is one of the largest hydropower plants in California. Water from the dam is released through penstocks to drive the turbines which operate the five main generator units and two station service units. The five penstocks are each 15 feet in diameter - large enough to permit a school bus to pass through. To drive each turbine at full-generator load, 85 tons of water per second are required. Two 2,500 kW station service generators are an integral part of the powerplant. Power is generated at 13,800 volts and stepped up to 230,000 volts for transmission to California consumers. It began operation with 2 generators in 1944; the last of the 5 generators went into operation in 1949. The plant`s capacity is 584,000 kW. Work began in 1996 to replace the stator cores of generator units 3, 4, and 5 at a cost of $8.8 million. When the work has been completed in 2000, each unit will have been uprated to 142 megawatts. The powerplant provides peaking power from reservoir releases. Units 1 and 2 are rated at 13.8 kV, 125 MW, 0.97 pf, 138.5 rpm, manufactured by General Electric. Unit 4 and 5 were recently uprated to 142MVA by Alstom (formerly GEC Alstom) at 13.8kV, unity power factor. and Unit 5 is rated at 13.8 kV, 105 MW, 0.97 pf, 138.5 rpm, manufactured by General Electric. Unit 3 is rated at 13.8 kV, 118 MW, 0.97 pf, 138.5 rpm, manufactured by General Electric but is scheduled to be uprated to 142MW in 2000. The two station service units are rated at 2.4 kV, 2.0 MW, 0.80 pf, 600 rpm, manufactured by General Electric. The maximum plant capacity for all these units will be 680,000 kilowatts. Keswick Dam is located on the Sacramento River, 9 miles downstream from Shasta Dam. It is a concrete gravity structure, 157 feet high, with a crest length of 1,046 feet. The dam creates a 23,800 acre-foot afterbay for Shasta Lake and the Trinity River Division. It stabilizes the uneven water releases from the powerplants. The dam also has migratory fish trapping facilities that operate in conjunction with the Coleman Fish Hatchery 25 miles downstream on Battle Creek. Salmon and other migratory fish are trapped when they reach the dam and are then taken to the hatchery operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Keswick Powerplant at Keswick Dam contains three generating units rated at 41,053 kVA, 6.9 kV, 0.95 power factor, at 94.7 rpm. All three units were manufactured by General Electric and were placed in service in 1949. MIL Tracy rewound the units under Solicitations 922 and 2279, starting June 1990. The maximum plant capacity for all three units is 117,000 kilowatts. The Trinity River Division consists of Trinity Dam and Clair Engle Lake, Trinity Powerplant, Lewiston Dam and Lake, Lewiston Powerplant, Clear Creek Tunnel, Judge Francis Carr Powerhouse, Whiskeytown Dam and Lake, Spring Creek Tunnel and Powerplant, Spring Creek Debris Dam and Reservoir, and related pumping and distribution facilities. The Trinity River flows 110 miles westerly where it joins the Klamath River at a point approximately 41 river miles from the Pacific Ocean. Plans to divert Trinity River water to the Sacramento River Basin formed part of the California State Water Plan. Trinity Reservoir is about 50 miles west of Redding in northern California. Operations Trinity Dam stores water from the Trinity River in Clair Engle Lake. Water is released through Trinity Powerplant. Downstream, Lewiston Dam diverts water from the Trinity River, through the Lewiston Powerplant, into Clear Creek Tunnel for the eleven-mile trip through the Trinity Mountains. Water enters Whiskeytown Lake through Judge Francis Carr Powerhouse. Some of the water diverts from the lake into the Clear Creek Unit South Main Aqueduct to irrigate lands in the Clear Creek Unit. The rest flows through the Spring Creek Power Conduit and Powerplant into Keswick Reservoir in the Shasta Division. From there, it goes through Keswick Powerplant, then south in the Sacramento River. The Wintu Pumping Plant diverts irrigation water from the Sacramento River into the Cow Creek Aqueduct and Unit. On the Trinity River, Trinity Dam regulates flows and stores surplus water for irrigation. Completed in 1962, it is an earthfill structure, 538 feet high, with a crest length of 2,450 feet. Clair Engle Lake has a storage capacity of 2,448,000 acre-feet. The lake offers recreation facilities for camping, boating, water skiing, swimming, fishing, and hunting. Trinity Powerplant is a peaking plant with generated power first dedicated to meeting the needs of the project facilities. The remaining energy is then marketed to various preference customers in northern California, with Trinity County having first preference. Trinity Dam`s hydroelectric powerplant began operation in 1964 with a capacity of 100,000 kW for its two generators. Using advancements in high voltage technology, Reclamation uprated both generators by 20,000 kW for a current total capacity of 140,000 kW. Lewiston Dam, about 7 miles downstream from Trinity Dam, creates an afterbay to Trinity Powerplant and diverts water by means of Clear Creek Tunnel to Whiskeytown Lake. Lewiston Dam is an earthfill structure 91 feet high and 754 feet long, forming a reservoir with a capacity of 14,660 acre-feet. Lewiston Powerplant is at the base of Lewiston Dam, 7 miles downstream from Trinity Dam. It creates an afterbay to Trinity Powerplant and diverts water through the Clear Creek Tunnel to Whiskeytown Lake. Lewiston Powerplant has one station service unit rated at 350 kilowatts, 480V, 0.8 pf, 600 rpm, manufactured by Electric Machinery. Lewiston Powerplant, which began operation in 1964, is a `run-of-the-river` plant which provides station service to the Trinity Powerplant. It also provides power to a local fish hatchery.. Any excess energy is sold to Pacific Gas and Electric. Releases from Lewiston Powerplant are used to provide attraction flows for the Lewiston Hatchery intake and power for the hatchery infrastructure. The Trinity River Fish Hatchery, operated by the California Department of Fish and Game, has a capacity of about 40 million eggs. It is immediately downstream from Lewiston Dam and compensates for the upstream spawning area that has been rendered inaccessible and unusable by the dams. Clear Creek Tunnel, 17.5 feet in diameter and 10.7 miles long, conveys water from Lewiston Lake to Judge Francis Carr Powerhouse and Whiskeytown Lake. A bypass is provided into Crystal Creek. The Judge Francis Carr Powerhouse (formerly Clear Creek Powerplant) is on Clear Creek at the outlet of the Clear Creek Tunnel on the northwestern extremity of Whiskeytown Lake. It is at the downstream end of the Clear Creek Tunnel, which transports water from Lewiston Reservoir to Whiskeytown Reservoir. A bypass is provided into Crystal Creek if units at the powerplant are inoperative. The power facilities consist of an intake structure located in Lewiston Reservoir, a 17.38 km-long (10.8 miles), 5.34 meter (17.5 feet) diameter pressure tunnel, a powerplant bypass to Clear Creek, a surge tank and basin, penstocks and valve structure house, and two 13.8 kV generators each rated at 80,000 kVA, 0.965 power factor, with Francis turbines. The Judge Francis Carr Powerplant began operation in 1963. Its generators` capacity was 143,680 kW. The units were uprated in 1984 to their current capacity of 154,400 kW. It is a peaking plant whose power is first dedicated to meeting the energy requirements of the project facilities. The remaining energy is marketed to various preference customers in northern California with Trinity County having first preference. Located on Clear Creek, Whiskeytown Dam provides regulation for Trinity River flows discharged from Judge Francis Carr Powerhouse and regulates the runoff from the Clear Creek drainage area. The dam is an earthfill structure 282 feet high with a crest length of 4,000 feet. The reservoir, Whiskeytown Lake, has a capacity of 241,100 acre-feet and provides recreation facilities for picnicking, camping, swimming, boating, water skiing, fishing, and hunting. Spring Creek Debris Dam, located on Spring Creek above the Spring Creek Powerplant tailrace, is an earthfill structure, 196 feet high, with a crest length of 1,110 feet. Spring Creek Reservoir, with a capacity of 5,870 acre-feet, controls debris which would otherwise enter the powerplant tailrace and provides important fishery benefits by controlling contaminated runoff resulting from old mine tailings on Spring Creek. The Spring Creek Tunnel diverts water from Whiskeytown Lake on Clear Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River, to the Spring Creek Powerplant. The tunnel is 18.5 feet in diameter and about 2.4 miles long, including the 0.6-mile-long, 17-foot-diameter Rock Creek Siphon. Spring Creek Powerplant is near Redding, California, at the Spring Creek arm of Keswick Reservoir, about 1.6 km (1 mile) northwest of Keswick Dam. It is at the foot of the Spring Creek Debris Dam, and water for power is received through the Spring Creek Tunnel which diverts the water from Whiskeytown Lake on Clear Creek. Water from the plant is discharged to Keswick Reservoir. The powerplant houses two 13.8kV generators each rated at 100,000 kVA, .90 power factor, along with Francis turbines. Spring Creek Power Conduit conveys water from Whiskeytown Reservoir, located on Clear Creek, to the Spring Creek Powerplant. The Spring Creek power conduit varies in diameter between 5.64 meters (18.5 feet) and 5.18 meters (17 feet) and is about 4.8 km (3 miles) in length. The power conduit consists of Tunnels No. 1 and No. 2, and Rock Creek Siphon. Twin penstocks take off from Tunnel No. 2 leading to the powerplant. The Spring Creek Powerplant has operated since 1964. The initial capacity of its two generators was 150,000 kW; their current capacity is 180,000 kW. Spring Creek Powerplant operations are tied to flow regimes aimed at minimizing the building of metal concentrations in the Spring Creek arm of the Keswick Reservoir. The Spring Creek Powerplant is a peaking plant whose power is dedicated first to meeting the requirements of the project facilities. Excess power is marketed to various preference customers in northern California with Trinity County having first preference. The Cow Creek Unit and the Clear Creek South Unit were authorized as a part of the Trinity River Division. They consist of pumping plants and conveyance systems to transport irrigation water to some 6,800 acres of irrigable land east of Redding, and 4,600 acres of irrigable land west of Anderson, respectively. Reclamation built and operates these facilities. The Shasta Division operates as probably the least complex division in the Central Valley Project. Shasta Dam stores Sacramento River water for releases to the south. The dam provides a flood control barrier on the river to protect inhabited areas downstream. When in operation, Shasta Powerplant uses part of the releases for hydroelectric power.

Other

Water Education Foundation. Layperson`s Guide to the Central Valley Project. Sacramento:Water Education Foundation, 1994. The Central Valley Project (CVP) continued expanding in California after completion of the Project`s initial features. The Trinity River Division was part of this expansion. California picked up on the idea for the Division from a Federal Power Commission investigation for developing hydroelectric power on the Trinity River. After Reclamation investigated the economic feasibility of the plan in 1942, California dropped it in 1945. California`s move did not deter Reclamation, and they gave the Trinity River Division life as part of the CVP in the 1950s. The Trinity River Division lies in the Klamath River Basin, of which the Trinity River is a tributary. The Division transfers water from the Klamath Basin to the Sacramento River Basin. Trinity River Division is located in Trinity County. It consists of Trinity Dam and Powerplant, Clair Engle Lake, Lewiston Dam, Lake, and Powerplant; Clear Creek Tunnel, Judge Francis Carr Powerhouse, Clair A. Hill Whiskeytown Dam and Whiskeytown Lake, Spring Creek Power Conduit and Powerplant, Spring Creek Debris Dam and Reservoir, and other, related facilities.(1) Several groups of Native Americans inhabited northern California prior to the influx of European settlers. Wintun and Yana primarily lived in the Trinity River area. Whites did not settle much of Trinity region, even as they converged on the rest of the state, and the area remained wilderness for many years.(2) The Federal Power Commission investigated development of the Trinity River for hydroelectric power in 1924, blazing the trail for its eventual inclusion in the Central Valley Project. California adopted the Power Commission`s plan for its State Water Plan in the early 1930s. Reclamation began feasibility investigations in 1942, but California dropped Trinity River from the state plan in 1945. Undeterred, in 1950, Reclamation started survey work on the Trinity River Division to locate tunnel routes, powerplants, and diversion sites on the Trinity River and Clear Creek. The planned division would transfer water from the Trinity River, through the Trinity Mountains to the Sacramento River Basin.(3) Commissioner Michael Straus received the first draft of the project planning report for Trinity River Division on October 1, 1951. Reclamation held a public hearing at Weaverville, California, on February 2, 1952, to discuss development of the upper Trinity River. About the same time, Reclamation started plans to decide the optimum size of Trinity`s reservoir. On January 2, 1953, the Trinity River Division received authorization as part of the CVP. Congress re-authorized the division in 1955, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave the Division his approval.(4) Clair Engle Lake, behind Trinity Dam, stores water from the Trinity River for release through Trinity Powerplant. Downstream, Lewiston Dam diverts water from the Trinity River, through the Lewiston Powerplant, into Clear Creek Tunnel for the eleven mile trip through the Trinity Mountains. Water enters Whiskeytown Lake through Judge Francis Carr Powerhouse. Some of the water diverts from the lake into the Clear Creek Unit South Main Aqueduct to irrigate lands in the Clear Creek Unit. The rest flows through the Spring Creek Power Conduit and Powerplant into Keswick Reservoir in the Shasta Division. From there, it goes through Keswick Powerplant, then south in the Sacramento River. The Wintu Pumping Plant diverts irrigation water from the Sacramento River into the Cow Creek Aqueduct and Unit.(5) Reclamation awarded twelve major contracts for construction of Trinity Dam in 1956. Allum Brothers of Eugene, Oregon, received the contract for common excavation of the outlet tunnel, and rock disposal at Trinity. The firm commenced operations on June 4, 1956. Reclamation awarded the main construction contract for the dam to Trinity Dam Contractors (TDC) for $48,928,101. Trinity Dam Contractors was a joint venture comprised of Guy F. Atkinson Company, M.J. Bavanda, Charles L. Harney, Inc., Ostrander Construction Company, A. Teichert and Son, Inc., and Trepte Construction Company. The group started work on March 12, 1957.(6) Gates and Fox contracted to excavate the diversion tunnel. The firm started the upstream portal on September 15, 1956, and holed through on February 2, 1957. The contractor completed excavation of the tunnel April 28, 1957. Trinity Dam Contractors diverted the river through the tunnel with a cofferdam on July 8, 1957. They built a cofferdam downstream of the main dam site, de-watered it, and started excavating Trinity`s foundation. High water on October 9, flowed over the upstream coffer and broke through the downstream cofferdam, filling the excavation with water. The event did not prove a total fiasco because it allowed Gates and Fox to line the diversion tunnel with concrete. Trinity Dam Contractors diverted the Trinity River through the tunnel again on June 13, 1958.(7) Trinity Dam Contractors started dam excavation on May 28, 1957. The firm used bulldozers to clear trees from the dam site. Most excavation went to average depths of four to six feet. Some areas required stripping to ten feet. Right abutment excavation carried on from January 7, 1958, through 1960. The contractor discovered cracks in the rock of the spillway and gate shaft berms on September 25, 1958. TDC excavated the overburden to relieve the stress on the berms. The contractor placed 7.6 million cubic yards of material during 1958, Trinity Dam was about half complete at the end of the year.(8) Trinity Dam`s embankment consisted of four zones, or types, of materials; an impervious core material, a semi-impervious layer on either side of the core, river gravel, and rockfill. Rock riprap covered the upstream face of the dam. Trinity Dam Contractors commenced placement of the rockfill, on August 12, 1957, because some of the fill lay under the river gravel. The river gravel placement started on August 19. The contractor started placement of the core material and semi-impervious layer on September 12, 1957. The winter floods on October 9, 1957, which inundated the work area stopped work on the embankment, but no damage occurred. Trinity Dam Contractors expedited work to place the core material in the cutoff trench before the expected flood. Riprap placement started in August 1959. The contractor used a two mile long conveyor belt to transport fill material from the borrow pit to the dam site. Use of the belt risked stoppage of the entire placement operation, should the belt machinery break down. The contractor decided to take the risk, as opposed to hauling the material by truck over steep grades. The conveyor transported an average of 20,000-25,000 cubic yards daily. By the end of 1959, TDC had completed much of Trinity Dam.(9) Excavation for the spillway tunnel and shaft began at the downstream portal of the diversion tunnel on November 4, 1957. The contractor immediately encountered poor rock in the portal area, requiring more excavation than originally planned. Shaft excavation started April 14, 1958, and finished August 5. Trinity Dam Constructors commenced placement of concrete in the horizontal spillway tunnel on July 6, 1959, and finished November 4 of the same year. The contractor placed concrete in the vertical curve of the spillway with a crane and a bucket from October 5 to 27, 1959. The placement of the core material, semi-impervious blanket, and the river gravel zones finished in September 1960. The contractor finished the rock surfacing in October and the riprap in November. The contractor built the crest of Trinity to its ultimate height, and nearly finished the dam by the end of 1960. At the time of final completion in 1961, Trinity stood as the highest embankment dam in the world until the California State Water Project's Oroville Dam, on the Feather River, superseded it.(10) Guy F. Atkinson Company started construction of Trinity Powerplant structure on October 4, 1960. The company finished the building December 15, 1961. Gunther and Shirley Company and E.V. Lane, a joint venture, received the contract for installation work on the powerplant. The contractors started work January 9, 1962, shortly after completion of the structure. They completed all work on December 23, 1963. Congress passed Public Law 88-662 on October 13, 1964, officially naming Trinity`s reservoir, Clair Engle Lake after a U.S. Representative who supported construction of the Sacramento Canals Unit of the Sacramento River Division.(11) Reclamation awarded the contract for Clear Creek Tunnel to Shea-Kaiser-Morrison, a joint venture of the Shea Company, Henry J. Kaiser Company, Morrison-Knudsen Company, Inc.; Macco Corporation, and Raymond Concrete Pile Company. The contractor informed Reclamation in April 1957, of a delay in delivery of their tunneling equipment. The equipment arrived in August 1957. Subcontractors excavated a 721 foot access tunnel, intersecting the main tunnel near the center. They completed the access tunnel July 18, 1957. Shea-Kaiser-Morrison started excavation operations on the main tunnel in September 1957. They rotated operations, shooting one end of the tunnel while mucking the other end.(12) Tunnel ventilation presented the contractors with a challenge. To alleviate the problem, the group set up a three foot diameter, exhaust fan line, extending from the heading to the portal, with booster fans every 4,000 feet. As the heading progressed, they installed additional fan lines in thirty foot lengths. Shea-Kaiser-Morrison started concrete placement in the tunnel floor on December 16, 1958, completing it in April 1961. Concrete placement on the tunnel arch required a little more time, but the contractors finished it May 11, 1961.(13) Reclamation built the Clear Creek Powerplant at the lower end of the 56,668 foot Clear Creek Tunnel. Construction of the powerplant took place from 1960-63. Congress passed Public Law 88-555 as a joint resolution on August 31, 1964, officially redesignating it Judge Francis Carr Powerhouse. Congress named the powerhouse after President John F. Kennedy`s Undersecretary of the Interior who was from Redding, California. Carr was also a strong advocate of Reclamation projects, especially the CVP.(14) Reclamation awarded the contract for Whiskeytown Dam to Gibbons and Reed Company, of Salt Lake City. Construction of Whiskeytown Dam commenced in August 1960. Allen and Sturgess subcontracted clearing work on the Whiskeytown Lake site, and started operations September 2, 1960. The company downed trees with power saws, and used bulldozers to push the logs into piles for burning.(15) Gibbons and Reed and McConstruction Company started excavating the spillway and outlet tunnels, at the downstream portals, on October 11, 1960, as a joint venture. The contractors worked three shifts on the tunnel operations, and rotated the excavation. Workers removed shot rock from the spillway tunnel while drilling and blasting the outlet tunnel. They holed through the outlet tunnel on February 24, 1961. Spillway excavation concluded July 25, 1961. The company stockpiled rock from the diversion tunnel, for use in the embankment.(16) Gibbons and Reed began excavation for the main dam and two dikes on January 5, 1961. The company stripped, excavated, and hand cleaned the foundation to solid rock. Workers cleaned the upstream area, and marked rock outcrops, for drilling and blasting to remove large boulders. Deep weathering of granite, under Dike Two, required excavation of a thirty foot wide cutoff trench, deep enough to reach solid, groutable rock. Gibbons and Reed stripped other foundation areas of unstable material which could move or settle under the load of the embankment. All of the site for Dike One required the same type of stripping. The contractor excavated down only two feet on the stream bed and the steeper slopes. Workers excavated three to ten feet on the more gradual slopes at higher elevation. Excavation went down between fifteen and fifty feet underneath the two dikes.(17) Gibbons and Reed worked quickly through 1961, drilling and placing a grout curtain in a cutoff trench of the dam foundation, at the stream bed. The company started laying a continuous grout curtain on the upstream side of the main dam and Dike Two on October 20, 1961, to solidify the foundation. Gibbons and Reed accomplished some excavation of the inlet channel leading to the inlet tunnel. They laid concrete in the spillway tunnel elbow and completed over one-half of the dam before the end of 1961. Whiskeytown Dam suffered work stoppages due to a two day strike in November 1960, and one lasting over two weeks in January 1961.(18) Ferd Drayer, Inc., contracted to clear Whiskeytown Lake of trees and brush. Rain started on November 20, 1961, and continued for several days, soaking brush piles. The company could not burn the wet brush piles, and the soaked ground terminated clearing operations for the rest of the year.(19) Clearing the Whiskeytown reservoir site required moving a cemetery from the area. Reclamation awarded a contract to Madera Funeral Home, R.L. Moe, and Joseph B. Mashburn in 1961, to relocate the cemetery from the reservoir site. The firm the completed most of the work by the end of the year.(20) Gibbons and Reed re-commenced placement of the embankment on April 9, 1962. The laborers and hod carriers at Whiskeytown went on strike May 2, 1962, halting work on the dam. The strike ended on June 26, 1962, and Gibbons and Reed completed almost all of the dam by the end of the year. The company completed the dam February 7, 1963, and President John F. Kennedy dedicated the dam on September 28, 1963.(21) The Trinity River plan called for a tunnel between Whiskeytown Lake and Keswick Reservoir, to complete the water transfer to the Sacramento River Basin. To use the drop in elevation between Whiskeytown and Keswick, Reclamation opted for a power conduit with a powerplant at Keswick. Reclamation awarded the contract for the Spring Creek Power Conduit to Winston-Green-Drake on May 20, 1960. The contractor started work in June 1960. Reclamation declared the 12,707 foot conduit essentially complete on May 8, 1963, but final completion did not come until June 5. Reclamation placed Spring Creek Powerplant on the west bank of Keswick Reservoir, about one and one half miles northwest of Keswick Dam, with construction concluding in 1964.(22) Less than a year after getting the contract for Whiskeytown Dam, Gibbons and Reed received the contract for construction of Lewiston Dam in 1961. The dam acts as a storage and diversion facility, sending water through the Clear Creek Tunnel to Judge Francis Carr Powerhouse and Whiskeytown Lake. The company excavated the spillway, separated the materials for the embankment layers, and started placing the embankment. The firm finished almost one-half of the dam by the end of the year. A labor strike hit Lewiston in 1962, approximately the same time strikes afflicted Whiskeytown, Clear Creek Pumping Plant, Clear Creek Tunnel, and Spring Creek Debris Dam. The strike did not halt work long, and Gibbons and Reed completed Lewiston Dam in 1963.(23) Lewiston Dam is a zoned earthfill structure on the Trinity River about seven miles downstream from Trinity Dam. The dam is ninety-one feet high and 745 feet long at the crest. Lewiston Dam is twenty-five feet at the top, 380 feet at its maximum base width, and has a total volume of 265,000 cubic yards. Lewiston Reservoir has a capacity of 14,660 acre-feet. The spillway is gated chute with two thirty by twenty-seven and one-half foot radial gates.(24) Gibbons and Reed received the contract for Spring Creek Debris Dam in 1961. The firm commenced operations in July 1961. Reclamation dedicated the dam on September 12, 1961, shortly after construction began. Placement of the embankment commenced on October 20, 1961, and Gibbons and Reed started laying riprap on the upstream face of the dam on November 9. The rash of labor strikes, which struck other Central Valley construction in 1962, hit Gibbons and Reed at Spring Creek, stopping work from May 3 until June 26. Work continued afterwards, but encountered other problems. Pervious material, to blanket the core, ran low on embankment placement near elevation 760-80. The contractor finished the embankment with impervious core material. Work on the dam embankment continued until completion on March 26, 1963, and Gibbons and Reed completed the contract on September 25, 1963.(25) Reclamation built Spring Creek Debris Dam on Spring Creek to stop sediment and tailings from Iron Mountain Mine from flowing into Keswick Reservoir and polluting it. The dam is an earthfill structure 196 feet high with a crest length of 1,110 feet. Spring Creek Debris Dam has a top width of thirty feet and a maximum base width of 1,040 feet. The total volume of the dam is 1,891,000 cubic yards. The reservoir has a capacity of 5,870 acre-feet.(26) Reclamation awarded contracts for the Cow Creek Main and Clear Creek South Main Aqueducts in 1964. Valley Engineers, Inc., the contractor, began construction on the Cow Creek Aqueduct January 14, 1965. Purtzer and Dutton received the contract for Wintu Pumping Plant in 1965, to supply Cow Creek Unit. The contractor completed the pumping plant in 1966. Reclamation dedicated it September 3, 1966. Baker-Anderson Corporation received the contract for Clear Creek South Main, and Reclamation accepted the aqueduct on January 26, 1967.(27) Reclamation discovered seismic activity offered the greatest threat to Trinity Dam. Investigations in 1985, showed Trinity could not accommodate a probable maximum flood and was in poor condition. Investigators determined seismic activity or heavy rainfall could trigger a landslide and result in overtopping and failure of the dam. Similar examinations of Lewiston Dam revealed water flow of greater than 62 percent of a probable maximum flood would overtop the dam.(28) Investigators discovered in 1985, that Spring Creek Debris Dam faced possible failure due to foundation liquefaction. Later, controversy hit the debris dam in the early 1990s. Through the decades, Spring Creek Debris Dam trapped sediment flowing into Spring Creek at a rate of up to 50,000 cubic meters per year. The dam soon began trapping mine toxins flowing out of the Iron Mountain Mine. When Spring Creek Dam overflowed, the toxins poured into Spring Creek and went downstream.(29) Following completion of the Trinity River Division, annual runs of salmon and Steelhead trout, returning to the Trinity River Fish Hatchery, declined about 90 percent. Inquiries in the 1970s, identified Grass Valley Creek, a tributary of Trinity River; as the main source of sand buildup in Trinity. The Department of the Interior reactivated the Trinity River Task Force in 1974, and assigned it to investigate methods of controlling sediment in Grass Valley Creek. The task force determined a dam and reservoir on the creek would best control the sediment. Based on the task force`s unanimous endorsement, Congress approved construction of Buckhorn Dam and the Trinity River Restoration Program.(30) Bids for construction opened on July 28, 1988. The joint venture of Sundt-Coffman offered the low bid of $11,237,735, and they received the contract on August 12, 1988. Reclamation gave the firm notice to proceed on August 31, 1988. Stimpel-Wiebelhaus, a subcontractor, started clearing for the spillway and an access road October 18, 1988. The main contractor commenced clearing operations on the dam foundation area on October 27.(31) Sundt-Coffman excavated the diversion channel, and diverted Grass Valley Creek in April 1989. Stimpel-Wiebelhaus began excavating the dam foundation April 15, 1989. The contractor placed a three inch lining over the foundation and lined the structure drains. The contractor started structural concrete placement on the spillway on July 24, 1989. Stimpel-Wiebelhaus started placing riprap bedding for the upstream side of the dam embankment on October 12, 1989. The contractor followed the process by placing the riprap, consisting of rounded cobblestones. Finally, the firm placed embankment material on top of the fill. Stimpel-Wiebelhaus accomplished the whole process during the same day.(32) Sundt-Coffman began excavation of the left abutment in May 1990. On May 26, 1990, a heavy rainstorm breached the cofferdam, and water flowed over the left side of the existing dam embankment, but caused no significant damage. The contractor started excavating the spillway channel on August 8, 1990, and completed it September 3. The company diverted the creek from the outlet works to the spillway about two weeks later by using pumps. Stimpel-Wiebelhaus finished placing the dam embankment on October 10, 1990. Sundt-Coffman completed spillway excavation two days later. The company finished all the contract work on March 28, 1991. Dunton Construction Company received the contract for lining the spillway channel May 9, 1991, and completed it November 20, 1991, concluding operations on the dam.(33) In the early 1990s, Reclamation officially redesignated Whiskeytown Dam, Clair A. Hill Whiskeytown Dam. Clair A. Hill was a member of the California State Water Resources Control Board, and the principle in CH2M Hill, a water resources management and engineering company.(34) Trinity River Division occupies an isolated and sparsely populated section of northern California. Weaverville is the closest community to the Division. In 1990, the community had 3,390 inhabitants. Trinity County had a population of 13,063 for the same year. The communities associated with agricultural lands, supplied by the Clear Creek and Cow Creek Units, consisted of Anderson and Cottonwood in Shasta County. Anderson had a 1990 population of 8,299, and Cottonwood had 1,673 inhabitants. Shasta County recorded 147,036 residents. Lands directly under the Trinity Division had a 1990 population of 8,103.(35) Transfer of supplemental water from the Klamath River Basin`s Trinity River to the Sacramento Valley comprises the main responsibility of the Trinity River Division. The disparity in elevation between the Trinity River and the Sacramento River facilitates generation of hydroelectric power from the division`s facilities, by dropping the water almost 1,500 feet from Clair Engle Lake to Keswick Reservoir on the Sacramento River. In between the two reservoirs, at Lewiston and Clair A. Hill Whiskeytown Dams, the Division generates more electricity. Water from Clair Engle Lake passes through three powerplants before it reaches Keswick Reservoir (see Table. I). Lewiston Dam acts as an afterbay for Trinity, stabilizing water coming from the powerplant.(36) To a lesser extent, Trinity River Division supplies irrigation water to Shasta and Tehama Counties. Wintu Pumping plant diverts water from the Sacramento River east into the Cow Creek Unit`s main aqueduct into Shasta County. Whiskeytown Lake supplies water to Clear Creek Unit through the Clear Creek South Main Aqueduct south into Tehama County. Lands in the two units grow a variety of crops with a significant value (see Table. II).(37) Trinity River Division primarily transfers water from the Klamath River Basin to supplement the Sacramento River water destined for the arid lands of the San Joaquin Valley. The Division is an engineering feat, transferring water through the Trinity Mountains, but the wonder exacts an ecological price. At times, the Division diverted 90 percent of the Trinity River`s flow to the Sacramento Basin, contributing to a decline of Chinook and Coho salmon populations. For a short time, Trinity Dam stood as the highest earth embankment dam in California, but like the rest of the Central Valley Project; such accomplishments soon became overshadowed by other concerns. Eric A. Stene was born in Denver, Colorado, July 17, 1965. He received his Bachelor of Science in History from Weber State College in Ogden, Utah, in 1988. Stene received his Master of Arts in History from Utah State University in Logan, in 1994, with an emphasis in Western U.S. History. Stene`s thesis is entitledThe African American Community of Ogden, Utah: 1910-1950. Record Group 115. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation Records. National Archives and Records Administration, Denver office. Annual Project History, Central Valley Project: 1950-53, 1955, 1957-66, 1968. Central Valley Reports: Bureau of Reclamation. Final Construction Report On Spring Creek Debris Dam: Specifications No. DC-5563, Central Valley Project, Trinity River Division, Lewiston, Ca., July 1964, Box 49. Bureau of Reclamation, Final Construction Report on Trinity River Dam, Specifications No. DC-4824 (Final Embankment Construction Report) and Trinity Dam Diversion Tunnel, Specifications DC-4650 and (Overhead Power and Control Wood-Pole Line Between Control House and Penstock and Penstock Gate Structure 200C-471(SF)), Central Valley Project, California, Trinity River Division, Lewiston, CA, February 1963, Box 50. Department of Commerce. Bureau of the Census. Twenty-First Census of the United States, 1990: Population and Housing. Bureau of the Census, 1990. On CD-ROM. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation. Crop Production Report--1990. Bureau of Reclamation, 1990. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation. Final Construction Report, Buckhorn Dam: Specifications No. DC-7740. Bureau of Reclamation, Trinity River Restoration Program--California, Trinity River Division, Central Valley Project. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation. Final Construction Report on Whiskeytown Dam: Specifications No. DC-5350 Part I. Trinity River Division, Central Valley Project, May 1964. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation. Final Embankment Construction Report: Spring Creek Debris Dam; Specifications No. DC-5563, Central Valley Project, Trinity River Division, Lewiston, California, May 1964. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation. Safety Evaluation of Existing Dams Analysis Summary: Lewiston Dam. Bureau of Reclamation, May 11, 1989. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation. SEED (Safety Evaluation of Existing Dams) Report on Spring Creek Debris Dam, Central Valley Project, California; Mid- Pacific Region. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Division of Dam Safety, Assistant Commissioner-Engineering and Research, Denver, September 30, 1985. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation. Technical Record of Design and Construction, Trinity River Division Features of the Central Valley Project, California: Trinity Dam and Powerplant, Clair Engle Lake, Clear Creek Power Conduit, Spring Creek Power Conduit: Constructed 1956-1964, Volume II--Construction, Bureau of Reclamation, Denver, 1966. Water and Power Resources Service. Project Data. Denver: Government Printing Office, 1981. Johnson, Stephen, Robert Dawson, and Gerald Haslam. The Great Central Valley, California`s Heartland: A Photographic Project by Stephen Johnson and Robert Dawson, Text by Gerald Haslam. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993. Lawson, John D. Redding and Shasta County: Gateway to the Cascades. Northridge, CA: Northridge Publications, 1986. `Highest Embankment Topped Out.` Engineering News Record, 20 October 1960, 23. `Two-Mile Belt Speeds Fill Haul at Big Dam.` Engineering News Record, 16 October 1958, 32. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation. Public Affairs Office. Mid-Pacific Region, Sacramento. Telephone interview, 20 September 1994. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation. Shasta Division Project Office. Redding, California. Telephone interview, 20 September 1994. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation. `Central Valley Project, Shasta and Trinity River Divisions.` Map No. 214-208-4469. Bureau of Reclamation, Mid-Pacific Region, April 1991. Water Education Foundation. Layperson`s Guide to the Central Valley Project. Sacramento: Water Education Foundation, 1994. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Reclamation. SEED (Safety Evaluation of Existing Dams) Report on Trinity Dam, Central Valley Project, California; Mid-Pacific Region. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Division of Dam Safety, Assistant Commissioner-Engineering and Research, Denver, September 24, 1985.

Contact

Title: Area Office Manager
Organization: Northern California Area Office
Address: 16349 Shasta Dam Boulevard
City: Shasta Lake, CA 96019
Phone: 530-275-1554

Contact

Title: Public Affairs Officer
Organization: Mid-Pacific Regional Office
Address: 2800 Cottage Way E-1705
City: Sacramento, CA 95825-1898
Fax: 916-978-5114
Phone: 916-978-5100

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Organization: Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District
Address: 2810 Silver Street
City: Anderson, CA 96007
Fax: 530-365-7623
Phone: 530-365-7329

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Organization: Butte Slough Irrigation Company
Address: PO Box 129
City: Meridian, CA 95957
Phone: 916--696-2569

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Organization: Colusa Drain Mutual Water Company
Address: 134 5th Street
City: Colusa, CA 95932
Fax: 530-458-4276
Phone: 530-458-4849

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Organization: Colusa Irrigation Company
Address: 134 Fifth Street
City: Colusa, CA 95932

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Organization: Maxwell Irrigation District
Address: PO Box 217
City: Maxwell, CA 95955
Fax: 530-438-2114
Phone: 530-438-2773

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Organization: Meridian Farms Water Company
Address: PO Box 308
City: Meridian, CA 95957
Fax: 530-696-2551
Phone: 530-696-2456

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Organization: Natomas Central Mutual Water Company
Address: 2601 West Elkhorn Boulevard
City: Rio Linda, CA 95673
Fax: 530-925-8691
Phone: 530-925-5936

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Organization: Pelger Mutual Water Company
Address: PO Box 1193
City: Woodland, CA 95776
Fax: 530-662-9419
Phone: 530-662-6219

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Organization: Princeton-Codora-Glen Irrigation District
Address: PO Box 98
City: Princeton, CA 95970
Fax: 530-439-2163
Phone: 530-439-2248

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Organization: Provident Irrigation District
Address: 258 South Butte Street
City: Willows, CA 95988
Fax: 530-934-3066
Phone: 530-934-4801

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Organization: Reclamation District No. 1004
Address: 134 5th Street
City: Colusa, CA 95932
Fax: 530-458-4276
Phone: 530-458-7459

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Organization: Reclamation District No. 1006
Address: PO Box 757
City: San Joaquin, CA 93660
Phone: 209-793-4356

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Organization: Roberts Ditch Irrigation Company, Inc.
Address: PO Box 277
City: Colusa, CA 95932
Phone: 530-458-7823

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Organization: Sartain Mutual Water Company
Address: 4746 River Road
City: Colusa, CA 95932-4200
Fax: 530-458-4475
Phone: 530-458-4476

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Organization: Swinford Tract Irrigation District
Address: PO Box 7321
City: Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
Phone: 760-934-3832

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Organization: Tisdale Irrigation & Drainage Company
Address: PO Box 309
City: Meridian, CA 95957
Phone: 530-696-2242

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Title: Public Affairs Officer
Organization: Commissioner`s Office
Address: 1849 C Street NW
City: Washington, DC 20240
Fax: 202-513-0575
Phone: 202-513-0305

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Organization: Bella Vista Water District
Address: 11368 East Stillwater Way
City: Redding, CA 96003
Fax: 530-241-8354
Phone: 530-241-1085

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Organization: Centerville Community Services District
Address: PO Box 990431
City: Redding, CA 96099-0431
Fax: 530-246-2254
Phone: 530-246-0680

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Organization: Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District
Address: PO Box 150
City: Willows, CA 95988
Fax: 530-934-3287
Phone: 530-934-8881

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Organization: Mountain Gate Community Services District
Address: 14508 Wonderland Boulevard
City: Redding, CA 96003
Fax: 530-275-3043
Phone: 530-275-3002

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Organization: Pleasant Grove-Verona Mutual Water District
Address: 1616 29th Street, Suite 300
City: Sacramento, CA 95816
Fax: 530-456-0253
Phone: 530-456-4400

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Organization: Reclamation District No. 108
Address: PO Box 50
City: Grimes, CA 95950
Fax: 209-437-2248
Phone: 209-437-2221

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Organization: Lindmore Irrigation District
Address: PO Box 908
City: Lindsay, CA 93247
Fax: 209-562-5642
Phone: 209-562-2534

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Organization: Sutter Mutual Water Company
Address: PO Box 128
City: Robbins, CA 95676
Fax: 530-738-4327
Phone: 530-738-4423

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