[PRpond]
Forebay Fish Stocking Allocation Transferred to Jenkinson Lake During Construction
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is scheduled to stock fish in Jenkinson Lake at Sly Park Recreation Area (SPRA) in Pollock Pines the week of February 4, 2018.
And more good news – extra fish are going to be stocked in Jenkinson Lake over the next two years.
Why the extra fish? This past fall, EID started timber harvest activities needed to support the El Dorado Forebay Dam Modification Project in Pollock Pines. The project is a dam-safety requirement that involves adding an earthen stability berm to the dry side of the dam, raising the dam 10 feet, and upgrading various associated facilities. The day-use areas around the Forebay are currently closed and will remain closed throughout construction. With limited access to the Forebay and because the project requires the reservoir to be drawdown in 2018, CDFW has discontinued fish stocking at Forebay. CDFW plans to stock Forebay’s allocation of fish into Jenkinson Lake. The extra fish will be stocked in Jenkinson instead of Forebay until the dam modifications are completed in December 2019.
Forebay Dam: Background
The El Dorado Forebay Dam and Reservoir (Forebay), constructed in 1923, is a key part of the El Dorado Hydroelectric Project 184. Forebay is an off-stream reservoir that regulates water for drinking water and hydroelectric power purposes.
Water is delivered into Forebay from the South Fork American River and from four upper watershed reservoirs, Caples and Silver Lakes located along Highway 88, and Echo Lake and Lake Aloha near Highway 50. Water is diverted from the South Fork American River at the El Dorado Diversion Dam in Kyburz and conveyed through the 22-mile-long El Dorado Canal. The canal is made up of a series of man-made structures mostly consisting of concrete-lined earthen canal, interspersed with wooden and concrete flumes, tunnels and steel pipe sections. Forebay’s water is utilized for both hydroelectric power generation and water supply. The water supply portion is released from Forebay into EID’s Main Ditch and conveyed about 3 miles to Reservoir 1 where it is treated and distributed to the District’s drinking water system. Water is also conveyed via the penstock to El Dorado Powerhouse and, after flowing through two turbines that can produce up to 21 megawatts of power, returns to the South Fork American River.
E-mail: ForebayProject@eid.org
