History

Spring Creek Powerplant is at the foot of Spring Creek Debris Dam. The dam is an earth-fill structure, 196 feet high with a crest length of 1,110 feet. Water for power is received through Spring Creek Tunnel which diverts water from Whiskeytown Lake on Clear Creek. Water from the plant is discharged to Keswick Reservoir.

Spring Creek Powerplant is a peaking plant. Its power is dedicated first to meeting the requirements of the project facilities. The remaining energy is marketed to various preference customers in northern California. These facilities were built and are operated by Reclamation. Transmission lines were operated by Reclamation until October 1, 1977, when they were transferred to the Western Area Power Administration, Department of Energy. Extensive turbine cavitation repair reduced Spring Creek Availability Factor in 2002.

Plan

Spring Creek operation is tied to flow regimes aimed at minimizing the building of metal concentrations in the Spring Creek arm of the Keswick Reservoir. Trinity County has first preference to the power benefit of the Central Valley Project from Spring Creek Powerplant.

General