Massive Dam Project in California

Our Story

Hello there! We are Teah and Ellie, and we are thrilled to present to you our story map about two of the most significant projects happening in California right now. The first involves the removal of four dams from the Klamath River, which will not only restore the river's natural flow but also provide benefits to the ecosystem and local communities. The second project is the Sites Reservoir Project, which aims to provide a sustainable water supply for agriculture, the environment, and urban areas. We can't wait to share more information about these projects and how they are helping to create a better future for California.

Below is a map of all the dams in California. We will only be focused on some, but this was a nice visual to show how many dams there are in California. (Fun Fact: There are 1,472 federal dams and state-regulated dams in CA!)

National Inventory of Dams Key: Red: High Blue: Significant Green: Low Purple: Undetermined Yellow/Orange: Not available The bigger the circle, the bigger the dam.

This is the location for the new reservoir called the Sites Reservoir, named after the town of Sites. The project is groundbreaking because it will be a reservoir that doesn't rely on a river. The experts plan to pump water from the Sacramento River and store it in the reservoir. There is one other reservoir like this in CA, but not exactly like this one. For this project, they will be building two new dams so they can close the "bowl of the land".

The aim of this project is to preserve water for times when it is scarce. As per the information on sitesproject.org, the project intends to utilize it for capturing surplus water from storm drains, providing water to farmers, and enhancing the environment by storing water. Here are a few questions you may want answers to.

Why is the reservoir being built here? You may be wondering this question, and we have the answer for you. People have known for a long time that this particular location was chosen for a reservoir. However, everyone just ignored that space because they kept getting told that it was going to be flooded. Finally, later this year, California is taking action and starting the project. This area is a perfect place for the reservoir because it is a bowl-shaped land that is well-suited for the purpose. Although two more dams, named the Sites Dam and Golden Gate Dam, need to be built, it is still an ideal area for a reservoir.

How will this affect wildlife? This will have an impact on wildlife as it will provide them with a new habitat to live in. The reservoir will become a new place for wildlife to thrive in. Additionally, this will be beneficial for wildlife as there will be no issues with fish trying to cross the dams as there is no river flowing through the reservoir.

How does this have a positive effect on California? This project will have a positive effect on California by storing water for California to use in the dry years. So many people can use this water, as well as agriculture and any other uses of water.

Fun Facts about the Sites Reservoir Project: 1. The area where the Project will take place has been sighted out for at least 40 years. 2. When the reservoir is full it will be about 260 feet deep from the surface to the floor at the deepest point. 3. The reservoir can hold up to 1.5 million acre-feet of water, enough to supply 7.5 million people with water for an entire year. 4. Once it is built, it will be the eighth-largest reservoir in California. 5. The project will have two dams, the Sites Dam and the Golden Gate Dam.

This is what the area looks like right now. Only a couple of people are living there because it has been known that it would become a reservoir. All that is in that area are cattle ranchers, and the government will buy their land so that it can become a reservoir.

Even though the area is a bowl of land, this project will need 2 dams. There will also be 7 saddle dams, and 2 saddle dikes. The Golden Gate Dam, the biggest of the two, will be 287 ft high and extend for 2,221 ft. The other dam, the Sites Dam, will be 267 ft tall and 781 ft long.

This project is going to start sometime in 2024 and is expected to be done around 2030. This is a massive project, and it will greatly impact Californians, so, amazingly, this project is finally happening. In the next section you will learn about the Iron Gate Dam and the project that it is involved with, and how it connected to the Sites Project.

Here is some more additional information about the Sites Reservoir project!

The Iron Gate Dam is a key structure on the Klamath River, giving very important irrigation water for approximately 240,000 acres of land. It is used to grow alfalfa, cereals, grains, potatoes, and much more. The dam is crucial to the region's agriculture and the livelihoods of many farmers who depend on it. The dam's maintenance and upkeep are necessary to ensure its flawless operations and the region's economic and food security.

The one we will be focusing the most on is the Iron Gate Dam. This Dam was constructed in 1960 and was finally put to use in 1962. This dam is massive, it has a height of 173 feet and a length of 740 feet! It is insane how huge this body of water is. There are many questions about this dam. For example, why was the Iron Gate Dam built?

The Klamath river dams are mainly used for one thing, can you guess what that is? Energy, the Iron Gate dam produces hydroelectric energy. This energy is made when people use a hydroelectric turbine. They would station this at the bottom of the dam and because of all the water pressure at the bottom of the dam they slowly put an opening for the water to escape. When the water escapes it hits the turbine with insane force! Then when the water turns the turbine it creates huge amounts of energy

The Iron Gate Dam in Siskiyou County, California, holds back the water of the Klamath River and has various purposes, this includes hydroelectric power generation, irrigation, and flood control. The dam sends water into the South Pacific near Crescent City, California, through the Klamath River.

There are many dams in California, but the dams that are being noticed the most in the world are four Dams in Oregon. Have you heard of them? They are the Copco No. 1, Copco No. 2, Iron Gate, and JC Boyle. These Dams are being focused on because they have been decided to be destroyed in 2024. Destroying these four Dams could have a huge impact on neighboring cities and the surrounding wildlife. There is one question, why are these dams being taken down in the first place?

The Iron Gate Dam is one of the four in the dam removal project. While all of these dams are located on the Klamath River, the other three dams are located in Oregon, on the other hand, The Iron Gate is in California. This will be the biggest dam removal project in the U.S.! The Dams Copco 1, JC Boyle, and Iron Gate are in the process of being taken down. The Organization, Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC) will be conducting or putting this project into action. They have decided to take down these dams because, for the last 100 years, the dams on the Klamath River have made it incredibly hard for steelhead trout and salmon to reach 400 miles of habitat, these dams also disturbed the water quality, the people, and the wildlife.

Many people protested or fought for this dam removal project. One of those many women is Amy Bowers Cordalis. She is a very well-known member of the native american Yurok Tribe. Mrs. Cordalis is a mother of three, an attorney, and a fisherwoman. She is also a member of the staff of the Native American Rights Club. Her whole family has fought for Yurok's Rights and is from the village of Requa. She is a very well-known fighter in the Dam removal project.

In the next section, we are going to talk about the two projects and how they are similar and different. We will talk about how these projects are somehow connected. These projects are similar because: they are all part of one big project. Guess what that project is... to help California!! Californians are always in need of water. Everyone needs water. Sadly, water in California is unsteady, so that is why we are building the Sites Reservoir to keep water for the unsteady times. All in all, these projects have differences and similarities, but they are both going to help and impact California.

These projects are different because one of them is using dams to make hydroelectricity, while the Oregon Dam project focuses on taking the dams down. Also, the Iron Gate dam is used to create hydroelectricity, hydroelectricity is when a turbine spins as the water comes out of the dam. The Iron Gate dam has so much pressure at the bottom of the dam so you would let the water drain from the bottom and when the water hits the turbine it creates an insane amount of energy! On the other hand, the Site Project will be using the water for storage until they need it in a dry year.

Conclusion: All in all, these two projects are very interesting and will greatly benefit California. Although this was a long story map, we hope that you were able to focus on and find the main messages we wanted to share. Thank you for reading our presentation, and we hope you learned something you can share.