Pardee Dam is a -high structure across the

Mokelumne River The Mokelumne River ( or ; ''Mokelumne'', Miwok for "People of the Fish Net") is a -long river in northern California in the United States. The river flows west from a rugged portion of the central Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada into the C ...

which marks the boundary between Amador and Calaveras Counties, located in the foothills of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

approximately northeast of Stockton.

History

Construction of the Pardee Dam began in July 1927. It was completed in 1929 with the first release of water into the

Mokelumne Aqueduct The Mokelumne Aqueduct is a water conveyance system in central California, United States. The aqueduct is supplied by the Mokelumne River and provides water to 35 municipalities in the East Bay in the San Francisco Bay Area. The aqueduct and the ...

occurring on June 23, 1929. Camp Pardee was established nearby as a community to house employees who maintained the dam.

Overview

The impounded water forms Pardee Reservoir, the primary source of water for the

East Bay Municipal Utility District East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), colloquially referred to as "East Bay Mud", is a public utility district which provides water and sewage treatment services for an area of approximately in the eastern side of San Francisco Bay.Sectio ...

(EBMUD) in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. Like all the reservoirs in the Sierra watershed, most of the water originates from the annual snowpack in the High Sierra. The reservoir normally covers with a capacity and of shoreline. California state law prohibits human body to water contact within Pardee Reservoir, so water skiers, jet skis, and lake swimmers are forbidden, but boating and fishing remain popular activities. The water is transported from Pardee Reservoir across the Central Valley via the triple steel pipe

to several storage reservoirs located in the hills east of

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

which supply drinking water to the East Bay region. The water is also used to generate

electric power Electric power is the rate of transfer of electrical energy within a electric circuit, circuit. Its SI unit is the watt, the general unit of power (physics), power, defined as one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with oth ...

and for recreation. Both the dam and its reservoir are named for

George Pardee George Cooper Pardee (July 25, 1857 – September 1, 1941) was an American doctor of medicine and Republican politician. As the 21st governor of California, holding office from January 7, 1903, to January 9, 1907, Pardee was the second native-bor ...

, a prominent

Progressive Era The Progressive Era (1890s–1920s) was a period in the United States characterized by multiple social and political reform efforts. Reformers during this era, known as progressivism in the United States, Progressives, sought to address iss ...

politician in the Bay Area who also served as Governor of California. A view of Pardee Dam from the overlook on Pardee Dam road

Salmon activity

Due to the many dams along the Mokelumne River, salmon runs that used to cross through to the present location of the Pardee Reservoir are stopped short in lower sections of the river. In the Fall of 2014, the fifth largest

Chinook salmon The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Oncorhynchus, Pacific salmon. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other vernacular names for the species include king salmon, quinn ...

count recorded in the past 74 years took place, with over 12,118 salmon. Below the dam lies a hatchery that is the result of a joint project with EBMUD and

California Department of Fish and Wildlife The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is an American state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages ...

. There, about a fourth of the returning salmon are collected and harvested for egg production. Along with raising the salmon, scientists work to manipulate river flow to encourage more salmon to return. During times of low water level, the fish are at risk of being drawn into water pumps that lead towards the south past the delta. To avoid this, scientists truck the baby salmon from the hatchery to Sherman Island in the delta. The goal of the hatchery is that the baby salmon will imprint to the water in the Mokelumne River and return when it is time for them to mate.

References

*
Columbia Gazetteer (2000)

External links

EBMUD Daily water supply reportCurrent Conditions, Pardee Reservoir, California Department of Water Resources
* * * * * *{{HAER , survey=CA-168-D , id=ca2032 , title=Pardee Dam, Jackson Creek Spillway , link=no Buildings and structures in Amador County, California Buildings and structures in Calaveras County, California Dams in California San Joaquin River United States local public utility dams Dams completed in 1929 East Bay Municipal Utility District Energy infrastructure completed in 1929 Arch dams Dams on the Mokelumne River Historic American Engineering Record in California 1929 establishments in California

History

Overview

Salmon activity

See also

References

External links