Talk:Keswick Dam

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1, History

i.Early proposals

Keswick Dam was one of the Central Valley Project project that was started due to unequal water allocation that left some land owners with no water supply especially during summer season when need of water diversions for irrigation and domestic uses was required due to prolonged hot and dry weather. The water scarcity started in the 19th century in gold mine Era. Discovery of the gold mine in 1840’s attracted flood of immigrants to California. After a few years many immigrants attention shifted to agriculture because it seemed more stable than gold gambling. Central valley had fertile soils, abundant water, and a flat gentle topography suitable for farming. Consequently dust bowl depression era caused more migration to California resulting to further extension of agriculture and ranching in gold fields. The California Legislature immediately enacted laws to deal with the state's water scarcity issue, so they adopted riparian water rights . This law had limitations where owners of land bordering the water had a right to a reasonable amount of that water but Owners, whose land did not border bodies of water, had no rights to any of the water. Due to the usage restrictions by the riparian rights, the government directed the state engineers to come up with a plan for the entire state to a accomplish fair distribution of water for irrigation and domestic uses History of California State Water Project. Increase in demand for food caused a shift from a small scale farming to large scale intensive farming. low topography caused flooding in winter rainy season, but later followed severe drought in summer months. Low water flow cause increase in salinity that resulted in intrusion of salt in some parts of the valley especially the in the Bay. Primarily, Keswick project was for irrigation purposes,but it become a multipurpose for flood control, improves Sacramento River navigation, supplies domestic and industrial water, generates electric power, conserves fish and wildlife, creates opportunities for recreation, and enhances water quality.

ii. Central Valley Project proposal

Central Valley project proposal Shasta division is part of CVP that consist of Keswick Dam and power plant, Shasta Dam and Lake, and Shasta power plant. Keswick dam acts as Shasta dam’s after-bay stabilizing the erratic water flow released through Shasta power plant. Keswick reservoir captures water diverted from the Trinity River through the trinity river division. Keswick power plant further generates power using Sacramento River water. The CVP is a major water conservation developments extending from the Cascade range in the north to the semi-arid but fertile plains along the kern river in the south. It was built mainly to deal with flooding issues and water shortages, but as time progressed more missions came into play due to development of canals, power plants and more dams. CVP plan was passed by the state legislature in 1933 but the project was not constructed until the federal government assumed control of the project and its initial features were authorized for construction by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Funds for construction of the initial features of the Central Valley Project were provided by the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935. Later, Reclamation took over CVP construction and operation, and the project became subject to Reclamation law under the 1937 act with three objectives: regulate rivers and improve flood control and navigation; Provide water for irrigation and domestic use; and generate power. Shasta diversions are among the major projects of CVP and the projects were approved in late 1930s

iii.Construction

Keswick Dam named after the lord Keswick president of the Mountain copper company, limited. The project contract was initiated by the Bureau of Reclamation to Guy F. Atkinson Company and Kiefer construction Company and started operation in August 1941. Operations began immediately but loss of labor was experienced due to problems by the CVP but reclamation gave a go ahead. By end of 1941, the foundation was completed despite the labor challenges by the Guy F. Atkinson Company. During building of the concrete, weather changes were another issue. In the summer months, the workers had to spray water over the aggregates to lower temperatures due to extreme hot temperatures. In the winter workers heated the mixture to keep the temperatures above 50 degrees. During rainy seasons the construction was stopped due to flooding. In 1944 during end of WW 11 there was workers strive for about a month due to Atkinson earlier agreement to raise workers’ wages. Workers returned after promised by the War Labor Board to consider the wage issue and the end of 1944 the agency increased the wages. In December 1947 exhaustion of funds had altered building of the dam, however the powerhouse structure was completed. Atkinson-Kier completed the Keswick spillway, and repaired eroded portions of the spillway apron in July 1948. Wismer and Becker installed two of the generators at Keswick Power plant in 1949. Reclamation placed generator Units Two and Three into operation. The firm placed the fifty by fifty foot spillway gates at Keswick early in 1950, and they started operation on February 20. Wismer and Becker installed the final generating unit at Keswick power plant on March 31, 1950

2, hydro- meteorological aspects

i.Climate

The climate in Shasta County can be characterized as hot and dry in the summer, and cool and wet in winter, with the best climate occurring in the spring and fall seasons. Analyzing the precipitation and weather pattern of the area. The heavy precipitation period fall in the months of October through March with average annual precipitation about 69 inches. June through September receives very low rainfall reducing the inflow. Consequently, temperatures are very high in summer ranging mid 80- 90◦ F. In winter temperatures are lower averaging 40◦ F. << ref/>>http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/shasta/california/united-states/usca1045). In summer, there is a significant increase of discharge due to more demands of water especially for agriculture use. High temperatures increase rate of evaporation, so more water is needed to sustain the crops.

ii. Hydrology

Keswick and Shasta Dam manage the stream flow of the Sacramento river below river mile 302. In summer Shasta lake increases the inflow discharge significantly despite the prolonged dry months that reduce the discharge. Water from the Whiskey town reservoir and clear creek is released to the Sacramento River by way of Keswick Reservoir to meet demand for water in Southern California. Under normal project flood conditions, the flood plain width ranges from 200- 500 feet below Keswick dam. The river bed is constructed with course gravel at the riffle locations and fine sediments at non riffle locations (cite wild, scenic and recreational California Keswick dam to Sacramento book).

iii. Water quality

Iron mountain mine was a widely known sulfide ore deposit mine that provided valuable metals, but soon lost its fame due to extreme acid mine drainage and contaminated sediments deposits. The contaminated metal sediments that precipitated from the mine drainage accumulated in the spring creek Reservoir and Keswick Reservoir on the Sacramento River. The mine was located in Shasta County adjacent to Keswick Reservoir and has been known to be the largest toxic metal contributor to Sacramento River System (www. Epa.gov). Copper was identified as the main pollutant to the river but other contaminants that caused degradation of water quality were: copper, iron, zinc, cadmium, mercury, lead and Acid water (http://ca.water.usgs.gov/projects/iron_mountain/environment.html. The total concentaration of metals recorded in the river as been as high as 200g/L and the water acidity recorded was negative PH 3.6 << www.toxins.ucgs.gov/>>. In Sacramento River Basin other inactive mines have contributed to the degradation of water quality of Keswick Dam. Although varoius agences like clean water act and Environment protection agency dedicate to improve the quality of drinking water by treating the contaminats, uncontrolled Acid mine drainage still pose a great threat to the quality water in the area. The quality of surface water downstream of Keswick Dam is also influenced by other human activities along the Sacramento River downstream of the dam,including agricultural, historical mining, and municipal and industrial inputs. In the year 2000, the water quality of Sacramento river was reported to be relatively good. However, Water temperature is a principal water quality issue in the upper Sacramento River between Keswick Dam and Red Bluff Diversion Dam (RBDD). Other unknown traces of mercury,pesticides and metals have also been recorded in the 26-mile reach from Keswick Dam to Red Bluff < ref> <<https://www.usbr.gov

3, geologic features

The city of Redding where Keswick dam is built is primarily made up of volcanic and sedimentary rocks that are metamorphosed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Inoti D (talk • contribs) 05:13, 23 April 2016 (UTC)

4, Aesthetics

Keswick Dam is surrounded by chaparral community, riparian vegetation and a steep terrain. Around the dam is Keswick Lake and Keswick Reservoir that provide water to the dam and also help stabilize releases from Shasta dam. Upstream from Keswick Reservoir, slopes are characterized by a mix of pine and oak forests and, to varying degrees, chaparral and rock outcrops. The landscape includes topographic features of the Klamath Mountains, the southern Cascade Range, and the Central Valley. Two volcanic features – Mount Shasta and Mount Lassen – can be seen from numerous vantage points throughout the area ( www.usbr.gov).

5, hydroelectric power plant 6, Recreation aspects 7, Biological aspects i. Wildlife and fisheries

Keswick Reservoir is among the aquatic environments associated with the Sacramento River watershed. Cold-water fish species found in Keswick Reservoir include resident rainbow trout and brown trout. Warm-water species include the same species found in Shasta DamShasta Dam. California Department of Fish and game (CDFG) California Department of Fish and Wildlifeoccasionally plants hatchery-reared fish in Keswick Reservoir. The reservoir is accessible from shore and by boat, but it is not heavily used for fishing. Keswick Dam is the uppermost barrier to anadromous fish migrating up the Sacramento River. Because of its small size, Keswick Reservoir does not stratify. Reservoir levels fluctuate daily by one to three feet. The reservoir can fluctuate as much as eight to nine feet on an annual basis. Releases to the Sacramento River have ranged from approximately 3,300 cfs (DWR, 2011) during drought periods and 79,000 cfs during flood events (DWR, 1974). From Keswick Dam to the City of Red Bluff, the river is relatively narrow and deep with some areas of broader alluvial floodplain. Most of the Chinook salmon spawning habitat in the Sacramento River is located in this reach. The variability and magnitude of natural seasonal flows on the Sacramento River have been significantly altered for the purposes of irrigation and flood control. The dams and diversions operated by the CVPCentral Valley Project and local irrigation districts control much of the flow in the Sacramento River. To protect holding and spawning winter-run Chinook salmon, Reclamation has been required to manage cold-water reservoir storage and releases to maintain daily average water temperatures at or below 56ºF between Keswick Dam and compliance locations between Balls Ferry and Bend Bridge from May 15 to September 30 since 1993 (California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG)2009

9, Ecological effects

Iron mountain mine and Pyritic ore mining both in Shasta county have contributed to the degradation of Sacramento river in addition to killing of fish and other aquatic organisms downstream of Sacramento river off Keswick Dam.This is as a result of acid in water and other metal deposit contaminating the sediments quality in the river. Exposure to copper and other metals alter the physiological and reproductive alterations in salmonid species in Sacramento River below keswick dam. Winter run chinook salmon spawn in the river is one the major salmonid threatened endangered salmonid species.Spring creek reservoir was built to control the drain prior discharge into keswick reservoir. The acid previously recorded to range between PH 1.5 to -3.6 improved to a PH of about 3( EPA 1992). All the acid mine drainage and the discharge deposits had to be diverted into the treatment plan. This also improved the concentartions of metals by about 97 percent under regular operating conditions.Currently the water quality of characteristics at spring creek debris dam otlet to keswick reservoir meet the water standards for sacramento river that are set and regulated by water control board( usbr.org/ spring water sampling report).

Doreen,

Great job at staying neutral! Great use of reliable sources! Following your lead was a little difficult in the beginning because the only time Keswick Dam is mentioned in the early proposals section is at the end. I think that section would be really strong if you mentioned it more or just narrowed in on that area near the Keswick dam. The CVP has its own wiki page. With that said, I recommend removing the State Water plan and CVP section. It is clear that the SWP and CVP are relevant to the Keswick Dam, so I suggest that you incorporate them into your research but hyperlink them so that the reader can go directly to those pages if further clarity is necessary. The structure is good!

Overall, you're heading in the right direction!

Hi Theresa,

Thank you! I used your feedback to narrow down the content on the history paragraphs to have an easier lead. I also hyperlinked the CVP plan with its wiki page. Still struggling to maintain a neutral ground on some subtopics but I'm sure in the end I'll come up with something relevant.

Thank you again and Good luck!  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Inoti D (talk • contribs) 00:55, 9 May 2016 (UTC) 

Tsalaiz89 (talk) 05:10, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Inoti D.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 23:39, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

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