New Melones Lake

New Melones Lake is a reservoir on the Stanislaus River in the central Sierra Nevada foothills, within Calaveras County and Tuolumne County, California.The New Melones Dam and reservoir are a water collection and transfer unit of the Central Valley Project. New Melones Lake provides irrigation water, hydroelectric power, flood control, and wildlife habitat. Recreation uses include fishing, camping, and boating within the Glory Hole Recreation Area and Tuttletown Recreation Area.GeographyThe reservoir is impounded by the New Melones Dam, and has a 2400000acre.ft capacity with a surface area of 12500acre. When full, the shoreline is more than long.The reservoir and dam are located west of Jamestown and Sonora, and south of Angels Camp. The Archie Stevenot Bridge, completed in 1976, carries Hwy 49 across the lake and border between Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties.HistoryThe Stanislaus River and environs experienced dramatic changes beginning with the Gold Rush. The site of the reservoir is at the very heart of Gold Country, and development began there with the arrival of the miners in the 1840s. Water was immediately diverted, the riverbeds scoured for gold, and the banks colonized by miners and the businesses that served them. By 1900 the flowing water was used to create electricity. Some of it was diverted into canals for use in San Joaquin Valley agriculture.