Saturday, February 14, 2026

1969 New Bullards Bar Dam, Colgate Powerhouse and Burst Penstock on Feb 13, 2026

Dam: (Satellite)
Powerhouse: (Satellite)

The dam is 645' (197m) tall.

The New Bullards Bar Dam inundated the 200' (61m) dam built in 1922. [Warren Frederickson post]

Feb 13, 2026: the penstock broke near the butterfly valve.
8:34 video @ 2:16
Colgate Penstock Failure! Friday the 13th of Feb 2026

The torrent of water going down the mountain side then eroded the footings and caused another break in the penstock.
@ 2:53

The penstock begins at the face of the dam and soon goes through a tunnel through granite rock for a few miles to...
Satellite

...the top of a penstock above the Colgate Powerhouse.
Satellite

The penstock drops from about the 1300' contour line down to below the 700' contour line.
1969/77 French Corral Quad @ 24,000

Since the topo map marks the tunnel, I zoomed out to get the whole tunnel.
1969 Challenge and French Corral Quads @ 24,000

Another view of the dam.
blancolirio Screenshot

A view with the spillway in action.
0:12 video

YubaWater
Plans are being made to spend about a quarter-billion dollars to add another spillway. The new spillway will be 31.5' lower than the current one so that the reservoir can be drawn down even further in anticipation of atmospheric river rain storms. This allows water to be released while the lower channel has plenty of capacity to handle the flow.

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