News Release Archive

Red Bluff Diversion Dam Gates to Open Early

August 17 Opening to Aid New Pumping Plant Construction

Media Contact: Pete Lucero, 916-978-5100 TTY 916-978-5608 , plucero@usbr.gov
Sheri Harral, 530-276-2030, sharral@usbr.gov

For Release: August 12, 2010

The Bureau of Reclamation will begin opening the Red Bluff Diversion Dam gates and lowering Lake Red Bluff on Tuesday, Aug. 17.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service Biological Opinion requires that the gates are opened no later than Aug. 31 to help migration of winter-run and spring-run Chinook salmon and green sturgeon past the dam site.  This year, however, the gates will be raised approximately two weeks early to aid construction of the Red Bluff Pumping Plant and Fish Screen.  Specifically, with the early opening the contractors will be able to perform full excavation of the landfill, enabling the start of canal construction from the stilling basin to the siphon as well as construction under Red Bank Creek. 

With the opening beginning at 7 a.m. on Aug. 17, the lake level is expected to decrease approximately from 3 to 4 feet the first day, with lake level adjustments continuing until the lake is reduced back to the river channel by Friday, Aug. 20.  All boats affected by the changing levels should be relocated before 6 a.m., Tuesday, Aug. 17. 

Temporary pumps will be used to divert water from the Sacramento River to the Tehama-Colusa and Corning canals to meet irrigation needs during periods when the dam gates are opened.

Red Bluff Diversion Dam, on the Sacramento River about 2 miles southeast of Red Bluff, Calif., diverts water from the Sacramento River to the Corning and Tehama-Colusa Canals, which serve approximately 150,000 irrigated acres south of Red Bluff.

For more information, please contact Sheri Harral, Reclamation's Northern California Area Office, at 530-276-2030 or e-mail sharral@usbr.gov.

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