The Folsom South Canal is an aqueduct in Northern

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 ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The canal diverts water from the

American River , name_etymology = , image = American River CA.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = The American River at Folsom , map = Americanrivermap.png , map_size = 300 , map_caption ...

Nimbus Dam The Nimbus Dam is a base load hydroelectric dam on the American River near Folsom, California. Approximately of water is retained by the dam. It is responsible for the impoundment of water from the American River to create the Lake Natoma reser ...

Sacramento County Sacramento County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,585,055. Its county seat is Sacramento, which has been the state capital of California since 1854. Sacramento County is the ...

and travels about in a southerly direction, terminating near

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, about northeast of Lodi. The canal is operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, as part of the Auburn-Folsom South Unit of the

Central Valley Project The Central Valley Project (CVP) is a federal power and water management project in the U.S. state of California under the supervision of the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). It was devised in 1933 in order to provide irrigation an ...

. It is contracted for irrigation, industrial and municipal water supply; formerly it provided cooling water for the

Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station The Rancho Seco Nuclear Generating Station is a decommissioned nuclear power plant built by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) in Herald, California. History In 1966, SMUD purchased in southeast Sacramento County for a nuclear p ...

. It is also connected to the

Mokelumne Aqueduct The Mokelumne Aqueduct is a water conveyance system in central California, United States. The aqueduct is supplied by the Mokelumne River and provides water to 35 municipalities in the East Bay in the San Francisco Bay Area. The aqueduct and the ...

, which provides a large portion of the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

's water supply. The trapezoidal concrete canal has an average bottom width of , an average depth of , and a capacity of . Although it was originally planned to be long, extending into

San Joaquin County San Joaquin County (; Spanish: ''San Joaquín'', meaning " St. Joachim"), officially the County of San Joaquin, is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 779,233. The county seat is Stockton. San ...

, there are currently no plans to construct the remaining sections. Construction of the canal began on July 28, 1952, with the excavation of the diversion inlet channel at Nimbus Dam, then also under construction. However, work on the main section of the canal was not begun for almost 20 years. In 1970 and 1971 the Bureau of Reclamation awarded three contracts for Folsom South Canal construction to Syblon-Reid Company, Gordon H. Ball Inc., and Western Contracting Company for a total of $25,556,469. The first water delivery was on June 27, 1973, and the canal was completed by the end of 1973. The canal provides water to about of farmland, with $12 million in annual revenue. In 1991, water deliveries excluding irrigation amounted to . The Folsom South Canal Trail, a paved hiking/biking path, runs along the canal from the northern end of the canal near the Nimbus Dam (0.3mi) to Sloughhouse Rd (13.9mi).

References

Aqueducts in California American River (California) Transportation buildings and structures in Sacramento County, California Central Valley Project Folsom, California 1973 establishments in California Infrastructure completed in 1973 {{California-struct-stub

See also

References