Nimbus Dam | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Location | Sacramento County, California |
Coordinates | 38°38′10″N 121°13′11″W / 38.636095°N 121.219806°WCoordinates: 38°38′10″N 121°13′11″W / 38.636095°N 121.219806°W,inline |
Status | Operational |
Construction began | 1952 |
Opening date | 1955 |
Owner(s) | Bureau of Reclamation |
Dam and spillways | |
Impounds | American River |
Height | 87 ft (27 m) |
Length | 1,093 ft (333 m) |
Elevation at crest | 132 ft (40 m) |
Width (crest) | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
Width (base) | 135 ft (41 m) |
Dam volume | 8,760 acre feet (10,810 dam3) |
Reservoir | |
Creates | Lake Natoma |
Catchment area | 1,898 sq mi (4,920 km2) |
Power station | |
Installed capacity | 13.5 MW |
Annual generation | 51,097,000 KWh |
The Nimbus Dam is a base load hydroelectric dam on the American River near Folsom, California. Approximately 8,700 acre feet (10,700 dam3) of water is retained by the dam. It is responsible for the impoundment of water from the American River to create the Lake Natoma reservoir.
As part of the Central Valley Project (CVP), a federal water project that provides irrigation and municipal water to much of California's Central Valley, it was authorized in 1949 as a regulating reservoir for Folsom Dam, and a diversion pool for the Folsom South Canal. Construction began in 1952, and it opened in 1955.