Mammoth Pool Reservoir
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Mammoth Pool Reservoir is a reservoir on the San Joaquin River, on the border between Fresno County and Madera County, California, about 45 miles north-northeast of Fresno. The 123,000 acre-foot reservoir is formed by Mammoth Pool Dam, an earth-fill dam completed in 1960. It was built by Southern California Edison for hydroelectricity production. The dam's power plant can produce up to 190 MW. The dam, reservoir and power plant are part of the Big Creek Hydroelectric Project, perhaps the most extensive hydroelectric system in the world.
Besides electricity generation, the reservoir is also a recreation area. Activities at the lake include, swimming, fishing, camping and boating. The reservoir is closed to the public during the month of May and the first half of June to allow migrating deer to swim across the reservoir. They spend the summer in the Sierra Nevada. Additionally, the reservoir is inaccessible following the first snowstorm, as the road to it is not snowplowed. This usually occurs in November.
