Shasta Dam
On our first full day of vacation during the three day Memorial Day weekend, Marc and I visited the Shasta Dam. We had heard so much about it as a source of water and electricity for Northern California and yet we had never seen it.
The Shasta Dam, just outside of Redding, CA, is the second largest dam in the United States.
It is said that the Shasta Dam has three major purposes: flood control, to provide hydroelectric power, and to supply water to thousands of California crops.
A closer albeit partial view of the dam
Taken right on the dam with the water essential to Northern California behind me
The dam actually looks like a bridge on top.
It was clear that the water level had gone down a bit. It rained very little over the winter and spring. The "D" (drought) word is in fact being used by meteorologists to describe our situation now. Can you see the twigs on the foreground?
Another view of the water on one side of the dam
This is one sign every boater sees on one column of the dam from the water.
This is what the other side of the dam looked like. For people afraid of heights, this can be quite scary to look at from atop the dam bridge
The Visitor Information Center.
A view of the dam as we drove away