Pit 3 Dam

Pit-3 Dam (also known as Pit Number Three Dam and Dam Number Three) is a hydroelectric dam on the Pit River in northern California in the United States. It forms Lake Britton, and is owned by the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).

Specifications
Pit 3 is a curved concrete gravity dam with a height of 130 ft and length of 494 ft. The dam has a gated spillway with three steel gates and three inflatable rubber gates. An intake structure at the dam diverts water into a 19 ft diameter, 21203 ft long tunnel that connects to the Pit 3 hydroelectric plant. There are three 23.3 MW generators, for a total capacity of 69.9 MW.

Lake Britton, formerly known as Pit 3 Reservoir, has a maximum water level of 2737.5 ft; however, the lake is usually kept below 2736.5 ft to avoid flooding parts of McArthur–Burney Falls Memorial State Park. The gross storage capacity is 41877 acre feet and the usable (active) storage is 14443 acre feet.

The lake level changes on a weekly basis with greater drawdowns during the weekdays for power generation, and refilling on the weekends. In addition to generating power at the Pit 3 hydroelectric station, the reservoir also helps regulate water flowing through the Pit 4 and Pit 5 stations downstream.

The dam is the place where Pacific Crest Trail crosses the Pit River.

History
Construction was completed in 1925.