Dos Amigos Pumping Plant

History
Dos Amigos Pumping Plant (view to north).

The Dos Amigos Pumping Plant's construction started in 1963 and finished in 1966.[1] It is able to withhold and transport water through the North and South of California of about a 444 mile aqueduct.[2] It is water pumping plant of the California State Water Project, located 10 miles (16 km) south of Los Banos, on Interstate 5, within central Merced County, in the San Joaquin Valley, central California.

The plant is the second pumping plant for the California Aqueduct and the South Bay Aqueduct. It provides the necessary fluid head (potential energy) for the California Aqueduct to flow for approximately 95 miles (153 km) to where the Coastal Branch splits from the "main line" approximately 10 miles (16 km) south-southeast of Kettleman City.

After the Coastal Branch junction, the line continues south by gravity another 66 miles (106 km) to the Buena Vista Pumping Plant.

The California Aqueduct is made up of small bodies of water such as canals and tunnels that are able to transport water. The aqueduct starts at the Clifton Court Forebay in Sacramento and makes its way down South where it splits into three different branches that is broken up into different areas of the counties down South. These categories include West Branch, East Branch, and Coastal Branch.[3]

As the aqueduct flows through California it goes through many reservoirs such as San Luis Reservoir. From the San Luis Reservoir to the O'Neill Forebay, the water flows down into the Dos Amigos Pumping Plant which is approximately 16 miles. After going through Dos Amigos Pumping Plant It reaches the Coastal Branch that is split for across a line that goes for about 16 miles towards Kettleman City.[3]

How It Works

What is a Pumping Plant?

A pumping plant is used to be able to convert energy by using the flow of water to be able to have mechanical energy. It seems that pumping plants effective at being able to convert electricity to fluid energy.[4]

A pumping plant first includes a type of motor that is connected to a pump housing and is driven by the shaft. There are many designs for how pumping plants are made but the motor with a pump housing seems to be the most efficient at obtaining fluid energy.[4]

Energy Saving

The electricity that is used from the motor pumps are measured in kilowatts per hour and consumers would pay a unit energy charged as dollars per kilowatt per hour.[4]


Central Valley Project

The water system is one of the biggest impacts in the San Joaquin Valley and there a variety of aqueducts and pumping plants that are able to transport water through the cities of different branches of California. There are also many dams in the Central Valley that can contribute to the flow of water to the aqueducts.[5]

Environmental Impacts

The major tributaries that affects the environment in the Central Valley from project includes harming several fish species and their migration patterns. The upstream of the water flow and different transports of the aqueducts make it difficult for fish to migrate since It is inaccessible. Not only is the flow of stream affecting the water patterns, dams are also making it difficult for fish to swim and go out and migrate.[6]

Specifications
  • Units: 6
  • Normal static head: 118 ft (36 m)
  • Total flow at design head: 15,450 cu ft (437 m3) per second
  • Lift: 118ft and 74m
  • Longitude: -120.8288º
  • Latitude: 36.92384º
  • Elevation: 282 ft


See also
  • Clifton Court Forebay
  • O'Neill Forebay
  • Central Valley Project
  • Water in California

References
  1. "SWP Facilities". water.ca.gov. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  2. Limited, Alamy. "Dos Amigos Pumping Plant, CA Aqueduct is a 444 mile aqueduct that carries water from Northern CA to Southern, Merced County, USA Stock Photo - Alamy". www.alamy.com. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  3. "California Aqueduct", Wikipedia, 2022-12-06, retrieved 2022-12-08
  4. Fulton Hanson, Allan Blaine. "Pumping plants and pumping plant efficiency basics worth remembering".
  5. "Central Valley Project", Wikipedia, 2022-09-23, retrieved 2022-12-08
  6. Williams, John G. (2006). "Central Valley Salmon: A Perspective on Chinook and Steelhead in the Central Valley of California". San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science. 4 (3). doi:10.15447/sfews.2006v4iss3art2.


References
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