New Bullards Bar Dam is a variable radius concrete arch dam constructed in the early 1960s in California on the North Yuba River. Located near the town of Dobbins in Yuba County, the dam forms the New Bullards Bar Reservoir, which can hold about 969,600 acre⋅ft (1,196,000 dam3) of water. The dam serves for irrigation, drinking water and hydroelectric power generation.
New Bullards Bar Reservoir provides flood control space between September 15 and May 31 of each year. There are 170,000 acre feet (210,000,000 m3) of flood control storage space between October 31 and March 31.
The reservoir controls water flows from the North Yuba River, as well as from the Middle Yuba River and Oregon Creek via diversion tunnels. The Our House Diversion Dam is situated on the Middle Yuba about 8 miles (13 km) above its mouth and diverts water into a 5.5-mile (8.9 km) tunnel with a capacity of 810 cubic feet per second (23 m3/s), running northwest to the Log Cabin Diversion Dam on Oregon Creek. From here the combined waters of the Middle Yuba and Oregon Creek are sent west into a shorter 1.3-mile (2.1 km) tunnel with a capacity of 1,100 cubic feet per second (31 m3/s) into the eastern (Willow Creek) arm of New Bullards Bar Reservoir. The diversions add about 173.9 square miles (450 km2) to the effective catchment area of New Bullards Bar Reservoir. The entire diversion and reservoir system is collectively known as the Yuba River Development Project.
Flood operations in the New Bullards Bar Reservoir water control manual are in part defined with being linked to operations in Marysville Dam. Marysville Dam was supposed to be built as part of a system of dams in the Sacramento Basin along with New Bullards Bar and Oroville Dam, but it was never built. Marysville Dam is still a defining function in the downstream channel capacity constraints even though it is non-existent. More details
New Bullards Bar Reservoir provides flood control space between September 15 and May 31 of each year. There are 170,000 acre feet (210,000,000 m3) of flood control storage space between October 31 and March 31.The reservoir controls water flows from the North Yuba River, as well as from the Middle Yuba River and Oregon Creek via diversion tunnels. The Our House Diversion Dam is situated on the Middle Yuba about 8 miles (13 km) above its mouth and diverts water into a 5.5-mile (8.9 km) tunnel with a capacity of 810 cubic feet per second (23 m3/s), running northwest to the Log Cabin Diversion Dam on Oregon Creek. From here the combined waters of the Middle Yuba and Oregon Creek are sent west into a shorter 1.3-mile (2.1 km) tunnel with a capacity of 1,100 cubic feet per second (31 m3/s) into the eastern (Willow Creek) arm of New Bullards Bar Reservoir. The diversions add about 173.9 square miles (450 km2) to the effective catchment area of New Bullards Bar Reservoir. The entire diversion and reservoir system is collectively known as the Yuba River Development Project.
Flood operations in the New Bullards Bar Reservoir water control manual are in part defined with being linked to operations in Marysville Dam. Marysville Dam was supposed to be built as part of a system of dams in the Sacramento Basin along with New Bullards Bar and Oroville Dam, but it was never built. Marysville Dam is still a defining function in the downstream channel capacity constraints even though it is non-existent. More details