| Bear River | |
| River | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | California |
| Source | |
| - location | Sierra Nevada |
| - elevation | 8,242 ft (2,512 m) [1] |
| - coordinates | [2] |
| Mouth | Feather River |
| - location | Sacramento Valley, United States |
| - elevation | 23 ft (7 m) [2] |
| - coordinates | [2] |
| Length | 73 mi (117 km) |
| Basin | 295 sq mi (764 km2) |
| Discharge | for Wheatland, CA [3] |
| - average | 410 cu ft/s (12 m3/s) |
| - max | 48,000 cu ft/s (1,359 m3/s) |
| - min | 0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
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Map of the Feather River watershed showing the Bear River
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The Bear River is a tributary of the Feather River in the Sierra Nevada, winding through four California counties: Yuba, Sutter, Placer, and Nevada.
The river originates in Tahoe National Forest south of the South Fork Yuba River and north of the North Fork American River. It begins south and west of Lake Spaulding (Reservoir). The river travels southwest and is impounded at Rollins Reservoir, Lake Combie (Reservoir), and Camp Far West Reservoir before joining the Feather River south of Yuba City/Marysville.[4]
In July 2011, a new dam project for the Bear River was revealed to be under study by a consortium of out of area water districts. The South Sutter Water District (Trowbridge), along with the Cities of Napa and American Canyon, Palmdale, and the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, issued a preliminary study on siting a new dam north of the present Camp Far West Reservoir and south of Combie and Rollins reservoirs farther upstream. The dam would be in the NID (Nevada Irrigation District) water district and would flood portions of Nevada County and Placer County. The proposed Garden Bar Dam would be located in areas already set aside as conservation and wildlife areas, and the resulting lake would inundate prime wildlife habitat and oak and savannah grasslands.[5][6][7][8][9][10]
Because of concerns that the water that would fill the proposed large reservoir (245,000 to 400,000 acre feet (302,000,000 to 490,000,000 m3), according to the study, the largest option would be 3 square miles (7.8 km2)) is already allocated for existing impoundment lakes by dams on the Bear River at Camp Far West, Combie, and Rollins, the actual feasibility of the project seems speculative, and has raised doubts as to the actual purpose of the proposal.
A quote from the study says "Water Availability: The report acknowledges the existence of "numerous issues that would need to be resolved to confirm the availability of this water and the ability to convey a portion of it through the Delta, if so desired."
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