The Bureau of Reclamation will hold a public meeting on December 11, 2006, from 6-8 p.m. at the Elk Creek Elementary School cafeteria to provide information to area residents regarding the modification of Stony Gorge Dam, scheduled to begin in early January 2007. Reclamation Dam Safety and other experts will be on hand to provide information to residents and answer their questions. The school is located at 300 Sanhedrin Road in the town of Elk Creek, 22 miles west of Willows, California, in Glenn County.

The project to modify and strengthen Stony Gorge Dam involves construction activities that may create higher-than-normal noise levels. Noise created from truck traffic through the town of Elk Creek and construction activities at Stony Gorge Dam, only 1.5 miles from town, could affect some area residents.

Studies ongoing since 2001 indicated that a large earthquake could cause the vertical concrete buttresses that support the dam to buckle. On September 22, 2006, under its Safety of Dams program, Reclamation awarded a $23,956,700 contract to Shimmick Construction Company, Inc. of Hayward, California, to modify the dam. The dam modifications will consist of building a concrete wall and additional supports between the vertical buttresses to provide increased stability during an earthquake. The modification project is expected to take up to 3 years to complete.

Stony Gorge Dam regulates flows along the lower reaches of Stony Creek, stores surplus water for irrigation purposes, and provides for hydropower and recreation. Releases from the reservoir travel 22 miles down Stony Creek to Black Butte Dam and Lake. The dam is part of the Orland Project, one of the oldest in Reclamation. Construction of the dam was completed in 1928.

For additional information, please contact the Public Affairs Office at 916-978-5100. More information is also available on the Mid-Pacific Region website at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/sod.