Stampede Dam (National ID # CA10192) is a dam in

Sierra County, California Sierra County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,236, making it California's second-least populous county. The county seat is Downieville; the sole incorporated city is Loyalton ...

, impounding the

Little Truckee River The Little Truckee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 17, 2011 river that is a tributary to its larger counterpart, the Truckee River, located in Nevada Cou ...

. The earthen and rock-filled dam was constructed in 1970, at 239 feet high and 1,511 feet long at the crest. It was a project of 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 ...

, not primarily for flood control or irrigation storage as usual, but for fishery enhancement, primarily to facilitate the spawning of the critically

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

cui-ui The cui-ui (''Chasmistes cujus'') is a large sucker fish endemic to Pyramid Lake and, prior to its desiccation in the 20th century, Winnemucca Lake in northwestern Nevada. It feeds primarily on zooplankton and possibly on nanoplankton (such as a ...

fish downstream. The dam is owned and operated by the Bureau. The reservoir it creates, Stampede Reservoir, has a water surface of about 3,340 acres and about 25 miles of shoreline, with a maximum capacity of 226,500

acre-feet The acre-foot is a non- SI unit of volume equal to about commonly used in the United States in reference to large-scale water resources, such as reservoirs, aqueducts, canals, sewer flow capacity, irrigation water, and river flows. An acre-f ...

. Recreation includes fishing (for kokanee salmon, rainbow, brook, brown and lake (mackinaw) trout, etc.), hunting, boating, camping and hiking. There is an accessible viewing platform at Stampede Vista Point.

References

{{authority control Dams in California Reservoirs in California United States Bureau of Reclamation dams Buildings and structures in Sierra County, California Embankment dams Dams completed in 1970 Reservoirs in Sierra County, California Reservoirs in Northern California 1970 establishments in California

See also

References