Clear Lake Reservoir is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

in the

Klamath Basin The Klamath Basin is the region in the U.S. states of Oregon and California drained by the Klamath River. It contains most of Klamath County and parts of Lake and Jackson counties in Oregon, and parts of Del Norte, Humboldt, Modoc, Siskiyou ...

and the

Modoc National Forest Modoc National Forest is a U.S. national forest in Northeastern California. Geography The Modoc National Forest protects parts of Modoc (82.9% of acreage), Lassen (9.4%), and Siskiyou (7.7%) counties. Most of the forest was covered by immense ...

, in northwestern

Modoc County, California Modoc County () is a county in the far northeast corner of the U.S. state of California. Its population is 8,700 as of the 2020 census, down from 9,686 from the 2010 census. This makes it California's third-least populous county. The county seat ...

. It is part of the Klamath Project. and about northwest of Alturas. It is formed by Clear Lake Dam on the Lost River, a tributary of the

Klamath River The Klamath River (Karuk: ''Ishkêesh'', Klamath: ''Koke'', Yurok: ''Hehlkeek 'We-Roy'') flows through Oregon and northern California in the United States, emptying into the Pacific Ocean. By average discharge, the Klamath is the second large ...

, and has a capacity of . The reservoir is not to be confused with Clear Lake, a large natural lake on Cache Creek in

Lake County, California Lake County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 68,163. The county seat is Lakeport. The county takes its name from Clear Lake, the dominant geographic fe ...

Clear Lake Dam

The original

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

was constructed of rockfill and completed in 1910. It was tall from the bottom of the foundation to the crest, if measured from the crest to the original stream bed. It was replaced with a

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

dam near the old dam in 2002. The old dam had deteriorated and the water level was kept low to prevent it from failing. Its crest is at the same height as the old dam and the reservoir's capacity is about the same. There is a small hydroelectric plant at the dam with a capacity of 3 MW. The dam is owned by the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

. The dam and reservoir were created to reduce flows into the reclaimed wetlands of

Tule Lake Tule Lake ( ) is an intermittent lake covering an area of , long and across, in northeastern Siskiyou County and northwestern Modoc County in California, along the border with Oregon. Geography Tule Lake is fed by the Lost River. The eleva ...

. It also reduces flows into Tule Lake Sumps in the

Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge The Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States in northern California near the Oregon border. It covers in the Tule Lake basin. It is part of the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex, and is ...

. The reservoir created by the dam has a very large surface area, 25,760 acres (104.2 km²), and its average depth at maximum capacity is only about 20 feet (6 m), so it has a very high rate of evaporation. In 1998, of water from the reservoir evaporated, more than any other lake in the state besides

Shasta Lake Shasta Lake, also popularly known as Lake Shasta, is a reservoir in Shasta County, California, United States. It began to store water in 1944 due to the impounding of the Sacramento River by Shasta Dam, the ninth tallest dam in the United State ...

, which has over 8 times the volume. Because of this, Clear Lake Reservoir is not an efficient water storage reservoir. This is a problem since the dam now provides water for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

in the eastern half of the

. The reservoir is in

and

Clear Lake National Wildlife Refuge Clear Lake National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States in northeastern California. It includes about of open water surrounded by over of upland bunchgrass, low sagebrush, and juniper habitat. small, rocky islands ...

, so recreation opportunities are limited.

References

California Department of Water Resources
(XLS) * {{small, (1.02 MiB)
Herald News
Reservoirs in Modoc County, California Klamath River Modoc Plateau Modoc National Forest Dams in California Dams on the Klamath River Reservoirs in Northern California 1910 establishments in California

Clear Lake Dam

See also

References