Upper American River Project

Loon Lake, the uppermost major storage reservoir of UARP−Upper American River Project.

The Upper American River Project (UARP) is a hydroelectric system operated by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) of Sacramento, California in the United States.

The system consists of 11 dams and eight powerhouses that tap the upper tributaries of the American River drainage in the Sierra Nevada for power generation. Total installed capacity is over 687 MW, producing 1.8 billion KWh annually, enough for 20 percent of the city's electricity needs.[1]

The project mainly utilizes water from the South Fork American River and its tributaries, although some water is drawn from the Rubicon River, a tributary of the Middle Fork American River. Project dams provide water storage of about 430,000 acre⋅ft (530,000 dam3) and a total hydraulic head of 5,417 ft (1,651 m) from the highest reservoir to the lowest powerplant outflow.[2]

  1. ^ "Project Overview". Sacramento Municipal Utility District. Retrieved 2013-04-15.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference schematic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).