Lake Red Bluff, Red Bluff CA

Category & Type :

Location :

Information about Lake Red Bluff...

One inlet, on the other side of the river (left center of the picture), funnels water into both canals.  The inlet is dry because of a construction project.  A bridge is being built over the canal, and a pumping station is also part of the project.  Temporary pumps now push water into the canals.

At this time of year, early March, a lot more water would usually be here because the gates would be closed at the . . .

When all of the dam's gates are down, water backs up behind the dam, upstream to the right, to form Lake Red Bluff and to shunt irrigation water into the Tehama-Colusa and Corning canals.  The dam was built in 1964.

The dam's lowered gates blocked salmon, steelhead, and other species of fish from reaching their spawning grounds.  Over time, fish counts showed that the population of winter-run chinook salmon at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam peaked in 1969.  A decline began.  A fish ladder was installed, and dam operators started keeping the gates open longer and longer each year.  Fish counts continued to be discouraging, and in 1993 the National Marine Fisheries Service designated the winter-run chinook salmon as endangered.  A federal judge, after it was ruled that the diversion dam was impeding salmon migration, ordered the dam to cease operation. A pumping plant will replace the dam gates in 2012.

So, as of next year, fish will no longer find a dam blocking their travels, the river will flow unimpeded at Red Bluff, and irrigation water will continue to be pumped into the Tehama-Colusa and Corning canals.  With the dam out of service, the river will probably shrink; it's done that every time in the past when the dam's gates were up temporarily.  But this is permanent.  Lake Red Bluff could cease to exist, but no one knows what will happen.

Directions:  I took the photos from the Lake Red Bluff Recreation Area.  Access is via Interstate 5 north to Red Bluff, Exit 649 (State Routes 36 and 99).  Go east after exiting the interstate, turn right on Sale Lane, and proceed into the recreation area.

RED BLUFF -- Gates at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam are set to drop Thursday, forming the seasonal lake that is home to a huge jet boat drag race at the end of the month.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is increasing flows down the Sacramento River this week from Lake Shasta to fill Lake Red Bluff, said Larry Ball, operations chief for the bureau's Northern California Area Office.

"It's putting a slug of water that fills Lake Red Bluff and doesn't impact flows downstream," he said.

Starting Wednesday afterNoon, flows from Keswick Dam -- which regulates releases from Shasta Dam -- will be ramped up to 12,250 cubic feet per second from 8,250 cfs, according to a bureau chart. By Friday morning flows will be down to 8,600 cfs.

Creating Lake Red Bluff is a bonus, say bureau officials. The Red Bluff Diversion Dam was built in the early 1960s to supply water for 125 miles of irrigation canals running from Tehama County into Glenn, Colusa and Yolo counties.

Because of dry weather last year, the bureau temporarily dropped the gates in early May -- the usual drop date is May 15 -- to boost irrigation supplies through the Tehama Colusa Canal.

Although this spring has been one of the driest in decades, the bureau didn't put the gates down early like it did last year because it has been able to pull water for the canal from Black Butte Reservoir, said Jeff Sutton, general manager of the Tehama Colusa Canal Authority.

"This is normal operation," he said.

There will be some changes from last year, when 10 federally protected green sturgeon were found dead near the dam. The big fish, which ranged in size from 4 to 7 feet, apparently had battered themselves to death or became stuck trying to squeeze through gaps of about 5 inches left under some of the lowered gates.

This year gaps won't be less than a foot, said Paul Freeman, the bureau's division chief at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam.

"That allows the big fish, like the sturgeon, to get underneath the gates," he said.

Lake Red Bluff will be filled until Sept. 15, and the bureau is still weighing its future.

In an effort to aid fish in the river, the bureau in 2002 recommended closing the dam for only two months -- likely July and August -- per year and adding a pumping station to fill the canal. That's drawn concern from Red Bluff officials and organizers of the Nitro Nationals Drag Boat Festival, which is held at Lake Red Bluff each Memorial Day weekend.

"It's a pretty significant economic impact," said Ali Abbassi, president of New Entertainment Concepts, which puts on the annual jet boat races.

Losing the Nitro Nationals would mean a loss of $3.1 million and 49 boat racing jobs, according to a report put out by the city of Red Bluff.

But Abbassi and bureau officials said they are working on a way to keep the races, perhaps by temporarily creating the lake.