New Bullards Bar Dam facts for kids
Quick facts for kids New Bullards Bar Dam |
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| Official name | New Bullards Bar Dam |
| Location | Yuba County, California |
| Coordinates | 39°23′36″N 121°08′35″W / 39.39333°N 121.14306°W |
| Opening date | 1969 |
| Operator(s) | Yuba County Water Agency |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | North Yuba River |
| Height | 645 ft (197 m) |
| Length | 2,587 ft (789 m) |
| Spillway type | Concrete chute, 3x Tainter gates |
| Spillway capacity | 160,000 cu ft/s (4,500 m3/s) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | New Bullards Bar Reservoir |
| Total capacity | 969,600 acre⋅ft (1,196,000 dam3) |
| Catchment area | 489 sq mi (1,270 km2) |
| Surface area | 4,810 acres (1,950 ha) |
| Power station | |
| Hydraulic head | 1,306 ft (398 m) |
| Turbines | 2x Pelton |
| Installed capacity | 340 MW |
| Annual generation | 1,114 GWh (2001–2012) |
The New Bullards Bar Dam is a very large concrete dam in California. It was built in the early 1960s on the North Yuba River. This dam is located near the town of Dobbins in Yuba County.
The dam creates a big lake called the New Bullards Bar Reservoir. This reservoir can hold about 969,600 acre-feet of water. That's enough water to fill almost a million football fields! The dam helps with important things like providing water for farms, supplying drinking water, and generating hydroelectric power.
Contents
Building the Dam: A Look Back
The New Bullards Bar Dam was built by the Yuba County Water Agency. This agency was created in 1959. Its main goal was to build a dam to help control floods. This decision came after a big flood happened in 1955.
Most of the money for building the dam came from selling special bonds. The dam was finished in 1969.
Dams Before This One
The New Bullards Bar Dam is actually the fourth dam built in this area. Before it, there were smaller dams built in 1899 and 1900. There was also a 200-foot (61 m) concrete dam built in 1922. This 1922 dam made electricity from 1924 until it was covered by the New Bullards Bar Reservoir in 1969. The 1900 dam is still there, a short distance downstream from the current dam.
How the Dam Works
The New Bullards Bar Reservoir helps control floods. It has special space for floodwaters from September 15 to May 31 each year. Between October 31 and March 31, there is 170,000 acre-feet of space just for flood control.
Controlling Water Flow
The reservoir manages water from the North Yuba River. It also gets water from the Middle Yuba River and Oregon Creek through special tunnels. For example, the Our House Diversion Dam on the Middle Yuba River sends water into a 5.5-mile (8.9 km) tunnel. This tunnel can carry a lot of water.
This water then goes to the Log Cabin Diversion Dam on Oregon Creek. From there, the combined water from the Middle Yuba and Oregon Creek travels through another tunnel. This tunnel leads into the New Bullards Bar Reservoir. These diversions add a lot of water to the reservoir's supply. All these tunnels and the reservoir system are called the Yuba River Development Project.
Powering the Region
The dam sends water through a large pipe called a penstock. This pipe goes through a mountain to the New Colgate Powerhouse, which is about 5.2 miles (8.4 km) downstream. The longer distance helps the water gain more power as it flows downhill.
The New Colgate Powerhouse has two huge Pelton wheels. These are special turbines that use the force of water to spin and create electricity. They can produce 340 megawatts of power. These Pelton wheels are some of the biggest of their kind in the world!
When the powerhouse is making the most electricity, it uses a lot of water. It's an important source of peaking power for the area. Peaking power means it can quickly produce extra electricity when people need it most.
A smaller powerhouse, called the Fish Release powerhouse, was built in 1986 at the bottom of the dam. It makes a small amount of electricity from water that is released for fish in the Yuba River.
Safety Features
The large pipe (penstock) that carries water to the New Colgate Powerhouse is 14 feet (4.3 m) wide. In 2006, a huge valve was made in Europe and installed in this pipe. This valve helps protect the powerhouse. If an earthquake or another event caused the pipe to break, this valve could close to prevent flooding at the powerhouse.
Images for kids
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A view of Bullards Bar dam and reservoir from Marysville Rd
