Elderberry Forebay is a small

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 Los Angeles County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, which serves as the pumping forebay of the

Castaic Power Plant Castaic Power Plant, also known as the Castaic Pumped-Storage Plant, is a seven unit pumped-storage hydroelectric plant, operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which provides peak load power from the falling water on the Wes ...

. It located at the upper end of the larger

Castaic Lake Castaic Lake (Chumash: ''Kaštiq'') is a reservoir formed by Castaic Dam on Castaic Creek, in the Sierra Pelona Mountains of northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, near the town of Castaic. The California Office of Enviro ...

and is separated from the lake by Elderberry Forebay Dam at its southern edge. Entering the northern end of the forebay is the

west branch West Branch may refer to: Communities * West Branch, Iowa, city in Cedar and Johnson counties * West Branch, Michigan, city in Ogemaw County * West Branch, New Brunswick, in the Local Service District of Weldford Parish * West Branch River John, i ...

of the

California Aqueduct The Governor Edmund G. Brown California Aqueduct is a system of canals, tunnels, and pipelines that conveys water collected from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and valleys of Northern and Central California to Southern California. Named after Califo ...

, which connects the forebay to Pyramid Lake through the

Angeles Tunnel The Angeles Tunnel is a , water tunnel located in the Sierra Pelona Mountains in Los Angeles County, California, about north of Los Angeles."Angeles Tunnel", U.S. Geological Survey.''Pyramid Lake'' 2000, p. 1.American Society 1970, p. 131. It ...

. A component of the

California State Water Project The California State Water Project, commonly known as the SWP, is a state water management project in the U.S. state of California under the supervision of the California Department of Water Resources. The SWP is one of the largest public wate ...

, the reservoir was partitioned from Castaic Lake in 1974 to store water for pumped-storage hydroelectricity generation. During on-peak energy-demand hours, water flows from Pyramid Lake through the Angeles Tunnel and then on to the turbines of the Castaic Power Plant, producing

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

. From there, the water flows into Elderberry Forebay. During off-peak hours (including nighttime and Sundays), water is pumped from the forebay, back through the tunnel and into Pyramid Lake.

References

{{LA County dams California State Water Project Reservoirs in Los Angeles County, California Sierra Pelona Ridge Reservoirs in Southern California 1974 establishments in California

See also

References