Shasta Dam facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Shasta Dam |
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Shasta Dam in April 2009
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 Location of Shasta Dam in California
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| Country | United States |
| Location | Shasta County, California |
| Coordinates | 40°43′07″N 122°25′08″W / 40.71861°N 122.41889°W |
| Status | In use |
| Construction began | 1938 |
| Opening date | 1945 |
| Owner(s) | U.S. Bureau of Reclamation |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Concrete gravity |
| Impounds | Sacramento River |
| Height | 602 ft (183 m) |
| Length | 3,460 ft (1,050 m) |
| Width (crest) | 30 ft (9.1 m) |
| Width (base) | 543 ft (166 m) |
| Dam volume | 65,350,000 cu yd (49,960,000 m3) |
| Spillways | 1 |
| Spillway type | River outlets+triple drum gates |
| Spillway capacity | 267,800 cu ft/s (7,580 m3/s) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Shasta Lake |
| Total capacity | 4,552,000 acre⋅ft (5,615 GL) |
| Inactive capacity | 116,000 acre⋅ft (143 GL) |
| Catchment area | 6,665 sq mi (17,260 km2) |
| Surface area | 29,740 acres (12,040 ha) |
| Maximum water depth | 522.5 ft (159.3 m) |
| Power station | |
| Commission date | 1944-1945 |
| Type | Conventional |
| Hydraulic head | 330 ft (100 m) |
| Turbines | 2x 125MW, 3x 142MW |
| Installed capacity | 676 MW 1,976 MW (proposed) |
| Annual generation | 1,935 GWh (2001–2012) |
Shasta Dam (called Kennett Dam before its construction) is a concrete arch-gravity dam across the Sacramento River in Northern California in the United States. At 602 feet (183 m) high, it is the eighth-tallest dam in the United States. Located at the north end of the Sacramento Valley, Shasta Dam creates Shasta Lake for long-term water storage, flood control, hydroelectricity and protection against the intrusion of saline water. The largest reservoir in the state, Shasta Lake can hold about 4,500,000 acre-feet (5,600 GL).
Envisioned as early as 1919 as an effort to conserve, control, store, and distribute water to the Central Valley, California's main agricultural region, Shasta was first authorized in the 1930s as a state undertaking. However, bonds did not sell due to the onset of the Great Depression and Shasta was transferred to the federal Bureau of Reclamation as a public works project. Construction started in earnest in 1937 under the supervision of Chief Engineer Frank Crowe. During its building, the dam provided thousands of much-needed jobs; it was finished twenty-six months ahead of schedule in 1945. When completed, the dam was the second-tallest in the United States after Hoover, and was considered one of the greatest engineering feats of all time.
Even before its dedication, Shasta Dam served an important role in World War II providing electricity to California factories, and still plays a vital part in the management of state water resources today. However, it has greatly changed the environment and ecology of the Sacramento River, and flooded sacred Native American tribal lands. In recent years, there has been debate over whether or not to raise the dam in order to allow for increased water storage and power generation.
Images for kids
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The Pit River Valley, now under Shasta Lake, in 1941. The bridge visible near the bottom once carried U.S. Route 99 before it was replaced by the Pit River Bridge (from the deck of which this photo was taken).
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The old mining town of Kennett, being inundated by the rising waters of Shasta Lake circa 1944
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The Pit River Bridge, which was built to carry Interstate 5 and the Southern Pacific Railroad over Shasta
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The Pacific Constructors camp, photographed in November 1940. The H-shaped building to the left is the mess hall, which could seat up to 2,000.
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The Shasta Dam conveyor belt – the longest in the world
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The main 465-foot (142 m) tower used to support the cableway system at the dam site
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Construction work in June 1942, showing the empty middle section which would later become the spillway.
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March 6, 1943 view of the dam, showing work on the power station (left of the river)
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Inside the Shasta Dam powerhouse
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One of the many arms of Shasta Lake
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Shasta Lake at maximum capacity in July 1965, after an extremely wet winter
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A view down from Shasta Dam
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The five penstocks, seen from above
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The TCD (Temperature Control Device) on the back of the dam, installed in the early 1990s
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Shasta Dam viewed from the air, with the reservoir nearly full
