Dam: (
Satellite)
The dam is 645' (197m) tall.
The New Bullards Bar Dam inundated the 200' (61m) dam built in 1922. [Warren Frederickson
post]
The powerhouse is 350mw. More than 15,000 customers lost power when the torrent of water took out the switchyard.. [
4:49 video]
Feb 13, 2026: the penstock broke near the butterfly valve.
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8:34 video @ 2:16
Colgate Penstock Failure! Friday the 13th of Feb 2026
It uses Pelton turbines with a combined flow of 3,500cfs. |
The torrent of water going down the mountain side then eroded the footings and caused another break in the penstock.
The penstock begins at the face of the dam and soon goes through a tunnel through granite rock for a few miles to...
...the top of a penstock above the Colgate Powerhouse.
The penstock drops from about the 1300' contour line down to below the 700' contour line.
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| 1969/77 French Corral Quad @ 24,000 |
Since the topo map marks the tunnel, I zoomed out to get the whole tunnel.
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| 1969 Challenge and French Corral Quads @ 24,000 |
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| Chris Fen commented on Warren's post |
Another view of the dam.
A view with the spillway in action.
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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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3:24 video @ 0:56
A look at the damage after a pipe burst at New Colgate Powerhouse |
Before:
After:
Another before & after:
