11/1/06
At the end of October, Ellery Lake Reservoir (named after the State Engineer that built Tioga Road east of the park) was empty for dam maintenance, and a near-natural-elevation Rhinedollar Lake resurfaced, along with portions of the original Tioga Road.
"In 1917, a temporary wooden dam and 500 feet of flume were set up at Rhinedollar Lake, and test pits were sunk to determine the feasibility of a dam at the south side of the lake. During this same period, the excavation of Rhinedollar and Saddlebag reservoirs was partially completed, and some blasting work on the tunnel took place."
"After a year of no construction activity at Lee Vining Creek, Nevada-California Power Company started up work again in 1919, excavating portions of Saddlebag, Rhinedollar, and Tioga lakes. …From Rhinedollar Lake, over 1,971 cubic yards of rock and earth were removed."
"In 1920, the site for the Lee Vining No. 1 powerhouse and penstock was cleared, and more work was completed on the Rhinedollar dam site. …In August, the Rhinedollar dam site was cleared down to bedrock and 272.5 cubic yards of concrete poured."
"After 1922, when Southern Sierras Power Company took charge… The second phase of development, from 1922 to 1924, saw the grading and laying of penstock, tunnel drilling, construction of Rhinedollar dam…"
During 1922 "At Rhinedollar dam, rock fill was covered with a concrete slab face to a height of four feet above the old lake level."
In 1924 "At Rhinedollar Lake, the dam was raised another four feet, making the dam eight feet high. By raising the dam, Rhinedollar reservoir inundated most of an old road around the lake. Southern Sierras Power was forced to build 5,345 feet of 16-foot-wide highway, at a cost $15,000 to replace the road at a higher elevation. The road was built 27-1/2 feet higher than the original lake level, allowing the dam to be raised in the future. The company planned eventually to raise the dam to a height of 20 feet ."
Mono Lake Research Library Source: "Historic Overview of the Rush Creek and Lee Vining Creek Hydroelectric Projets" by Diamond, Valerie H. and Robert A. Hicks. For Southern California Edison Company by Theodoratus Cultural Research, Inc. Fair Oaks, CA, August 1988.
Ice forming in Lee Vining Canyon.
Photos by Greg Reis.
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