Project Overview
The proposed project would raise the existing 600-foot-tall-Shasta Dam by 18.5 feet (3%). This would result in an increase of water storage capacity in the Shasta Lake Reservoir by 634,000 acre-feet per year or enough water to support two million people a year.
Raising the dam and increasing storage capacity will improve operational flexibility of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) watershed system and provide important benefits that include:
- Increased survival of anadromous fish populations in the Sacramento River, primarily upstream from Red Bluff Pumping Plant (RBPP)
- Increased water supply and water supply reliability for agricultural, municipal, and industrial, and environmental purposes, to help meet current and future water demands
- Conservation, restoration, and enhanced ecosystem resources in the Shasta Lake area and along the upper Sacramento River
- Reduced flood damage along the Sacramento River
- Development of additional hydropower generation capabilities at Shasta Dam
- Maintaining and increasing recreation opportunities at Shasta Lake
- Maintaining or improving water quality conditions in the Sacramento River downstream from Shasta Dam and in the Delta