Sly Park Dam (Calif.)

Sly Park Dam is located near Pollock Pines, California in the United States. The dam impounds Sly Park Creek and Hazel Creek, natural tributaries of the North Fork Cosumnes River, to form a 41,000 acre-foot (51,000 dam3), 650-acre (260 ha) reservoir called Jenkinson Lake. It was constructed as part of the American River Division of the Central Valley Project to provide irrigation water to a portion of El Dorado County, California. The dam was begun in May 1953, with clearing operations, and was completed in mid 1955. The earthfill Sly Park Dam is 190 feet (58 m) high, with a hydraulic height of 170 feet (52 m), and 760 feet (230 m) long. Its auxiliary dam is 130 feet (40 m) high and 600 feet (180 m) long. The spillway of Sly Park Dam is actually in the auxiliary dam: it is a concrete chute 170 feet (52 m) long and can carry 6,700 cubic feet (190 m3) per second, while the outlet works at the foot of the dam can carry 47 cubic feet (1.3 m3) per second. The drainage area of Sly Park Creek behind the dam is 47 square miles (120 km2). The Camino Conduit diverts water roughly 7.2 miles (11.6 km) west from the Jenkinson Reservoir for irrigation purposes. Water is also diverted from Camp Creek into Jenkinson Lake to increase the total water yield.