Go with the flow

By Jessica Bies

Located in the Shasta and Trinity River Division, Whiskeytown Reservoir is just one stop in a system that diverts water from the Trinity River Basin into the upper Sacramento River. The water takes a complicated path through a total of two tunnels and three reservoirs including the one in Whiskeytown.

This is the path the water takes:

1. Water from the Trinity River Basin is collected in the Lewiston Reservoir.
2. The water leaves Lewiston Reservoir through the Clear Creek tunnel and travels towards the Judge Francis Carr power plant located in the northern reaches of the Whiskeytown Reservoir.
3. Water from the Carr power plant discharges into the headwaters of the Whiskeytown Reservoir, plunging down and creating a thermally stratified flow.
4. The cold water travels along the bottom of the Whiskeytown Reservoir until it is pulled under the thermal curtain and into the Spring Creek uptake and tunnel.
5. Water flows through the Spring Creek tunnel to the Spring Creek power plant.
6. Water from the Spring Creek power plant is discharged into the Keswick Reservoir.
7. Water leaves the Keswick Reservoir and enters the upper Sacramento River near Redding.

Still confused? Check out our online interactive map to get a look at the project site and the surrounding area:
View Shasta and Trinity River Division in a larger map

Jessica Bies, Geosynthetics editorial intern