New Bullards Bar Dam

New Bullards Bar Dam is a variable radius concrete arch dam in California on the North Yuba River. Located near the town of Dobbins in Yuba County, the dam forms the New Bullards Bar Reservoir, which can hold about 969600acre feet of water. The dam serves for irrigation, drinking water and hydroelectric power generation.HistoryNew Bullards Bar Dam was constructed by the Yuba County Water Agency. The agency was created through an act of the state legislature in 1959 specifically to construct a flood control reservoir in response to a flooding event in 1955. The bulk of the financing for the dam came from the issuance of revenue bonds. The dam was completed in 1969.The dam is the fourth constructed on the Bullards Bar site, succeeding diversion dams built in 1899 and 1900 as well as a 200ft concrete arch dam built by the Yuba River Power Company and transferred to Pacific Gas and Electric in 1922. The dam generated power from 1924 until its inundation by the New Bullards Bar Reservoir in 1969. Although the 1899 diversion dam was washed away, the 1900 dam is still in place about a quarter mile (0.4 km) downstream from the present dam.OperationsNew Bullards Bar Reservoir provides flood control space between September 15 and May 31 of each year. There are 170,000acre.ft of flood control storage space between October 31 and March 31.