Shasta Lake
Reservoir behind Shasta Dam in California, United States / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Shasta Lake, also popularly known as Lake Shasta,[1] is a reservoir in Shasta County, California, United States. It began to store water in 1944[2] due to the impounding of the Sacramento River by Shasta Dam, the ninth tallest dam in the United States.[3]
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2014) |
Shasta Lake | |
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Location | Shasta-Trinity National Forest Shasta County, California |
Coordinates | 40°45′37″N 122°22′19″W |
Type | Reservoir |
Primary inflows | Sacramento River, Pit River, McCloud River |
Primary outflows | Sacramento River |
Basin countries | United States |
Max. length | 35 mi (56 km) |
Surface area | 30,000 acres (12,000 ha) |
Max. depth | 517 ft (158 m) |
Water volume | 4,552,000 acre⋅ft (5.615 km3) |
Shore length1 | 365 mi (587 km) |
Surface elevation | 1,067 ft (325 m) |
Settlements | Lakehead |
References | U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lake Shasta |
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. |
Shasta Lake is a key facility of the Central Valley Project and provides flood control for the Sacramento Valley downstream of the dam. Water outflow generates power through the Shasta Powerplant[4] and is subsequently used for irrigation and municipal purposes.[5]
The reservoir lies within the Whiskeytown–Shasta–Trinity National Recreation Area, operated by the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has developed a safe eating advisory for fish caught in the lake based on levels of mercury or PCBs found in local species.[6]