Don Pedro Dam Explained

Don Pedro Dam
Name Official:Old Don Pedro Dam
Coordinates:37.7125°N -120.402°W
Location:Tuolumne County, California
Dam Type:Concrete thick arch/gravity
Dam Length:1000feet
Dam Height:283feet
Dam Width Base:170feet
Dam Width Crest:16feet
Res Name:Don Pedro Reservoir
Res Capacity Total:290400acre.ft
Plant Turbines:4
Plant Capacity:30 MW

The Don Pedro Dam, since 1971 also known as the Old Don Pedro Dam, was a dam across the Tuolumne River in Tuolumne County, California. The structure still exists and is flooded underneath Don Pedro Reservoir, which is formed by the New Don Pedro Dam.

Construction

It was a solid concrete gravity dam that was 283feet high, 1000feet wide, 16feet thick at the crest, and 170feet thick at the base. It was completed in 1923 where the Tuolumne River had carved a narrow gorge with walls of solid rock about a mile (2 km) below Don Pedro Bar. The reservoir created by this dam contained 290400acre.ft of water when full, 14.3% of today's capacity.

A 15 megawatt power plant was part of the dam's original design, and two more 7500 kilowatt generators were added in 1926 for 30 megawatts total, just 15% of today's capacity. The old dam still exists about 1.5miles upstream from the new 1971 dam, and since the old dam topped out at just 580feet above sea level it is now under some 250feet of water when the new reservoir is full.

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