PG&E announces maintenance work near Canyon Dam

Pacific Gas and Electric Company will perform maintenance on a water channel at the bottom of Canyon Dam this summer. While the work is underway, PG&E’s Canyon Dam Day-Use Area will be closed, and PG&E’s contractor will use a pipe bypass system to pump water from Lake Almanor over the dam spillway nto the North Fork Feather River below.

PG&E’s Canyon Dam Day-Use Area is along Highway 89, just east of the dam will be closed through August as PG&E contractors use the site for staging equipment, material deliveries and laydown. Nearby public facilities will remain open, including PG&E’s Rocky Point Campground, the Lake Almanor Scenic Outlook rest stop and the Lassen National Forest’s Canyon Dam Boat Launch.

This project maintains the integrity of the downstream structure that channels the water as it comes out of the lower-level outlet at the base of Canyon Dam and flows into the river.

To do the required construction work, the area at the bottom of the dam must be dewatered. A temporary pipe bypass system will pump 35 cubic feet of water per second from Lake Almanor over the dam spillway to maintain downstream flow requirements on the river below the dam. Pumps will operate continuously from about mid-May to mid-August.

To expedite repairs, PG&E construction crews and contractors will be working on the project seven days a week.