New Bullards Bar Dam
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| New Bullards Bar Dam | |
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| Official name | New Bullards Bar Dam |
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| Impounds | Yuba River |
| Creates | New Bullards Bar Reservior |
| Locale | Yuba County, California |
| Maintained by | California |
| Length | 2,323 feet |
| Height | 645 feet (195 m) |
| Opening date | 1969 |
| Reservoir information | |
| Capacity | 996,103 acre feet (1.23 km³) |
New Bullards Bar Dam is a dam in California on the Yuba River and forms the New Bullards Bar Reservoir, which has a capacity of 996,103 acre feet (1.23 km³). It is located near the town of Dobbins in Yuba County. The dam is operated by the Yuba County Water Agency for irrigation, drinking water and hydroelectric power production. The dam is a variable radius concrete arch design and has a height of 645 feet (195 m). It is in the top 40 dams in the world for height and in the top 50 for reservoir size.
New Bullards Bar Dam was constructed by the Yuba County Water Agency. The agency was created through an act of the state legislature in 1959 specifically to construct a flood control reservoir in response to the flood of 1955. The bulk of the financing for the dam came from the issuance of revenue bonds. The dam was completed in 1969.
It provides water for the Colgate powerplant, which has a generating capacity of 315 megawatts. There also are three other powerplants on the Yuba River - Narrows 2 Powerhouse, Deadwood Creek, and Fish Release - with a combined generation capacity of 49.15 megawatts.
New Bullards Bar Reservoir provides flood control space between September 15 and May 31 of each year. There are 170,000 acre feet (210,000,000 m³) of flood control storage space between October 31 and March 31.
New Bullards Bar Dam is one of five dams on the Yuba River. The other dams are: Englebright Dam, Our House, Log Cabin and Daguerre Point Dam (a sediment barrier dam).
The New Colgate Powerhouse is not located at the dam. It is five miles (8 km) downstream, which increases the head (ie elevation change). Its two Pelton wheels have a combined capacity of 325 megawatts and are some of the biggest ever made. The small Fish Release powerhouse was constructed in 1986 at the base of the dam. It has a capacity of 150 kW and provides water for fish on the Yuba River.
A 14 ft (4.3 m) diameter penstock drains water from the New Bullards Bar Reservior several miles through a mountain and down a large hill to deliver water to the Colgate Powerhouse. In 2006 a 168 inch (4.3 m) butterfly valve was designed and manufactured in Europe for installation in the penstock at the top of the hill to protect the powerhouse from flooding in the event that an earthquake or other event caused the penstock to rupture. This valve uses a design similar to the valve installed at the base of the dam many years ago.
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