C.W. Bill Jones Pumping Plant

37°47′48″N 121°35′08″W / 37.796603°N 121.585494°W / 37.796603; -121.585494

The C.W. Bill Jones Pumping Plant (formerly the Tracy Pumping Plant)[1] located 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Tracy, California, was constructed between 1947 and 1951, and is a key component of the Central Valley Project.[2] The Delta Cross Channel intercepts Sacramento River water as it travels westwards towards Suisun Bay and diverts it south through a series of man-made channels, the Mokelumne River, and other natural sloughs, marshes and distributaries. From there, the water travels to the C.W. Bill Jones Pumping Plant, which raises water into the Delta-Mendota Canal, which in turn travels 117 miles (188 km) southwards to Mendota Pool on the San Joaquin River, supplying water to other CVP reservoirs about midway. The Tracy Fish Collection Facility exists at the entrance of the pump plant in order to catch fish that would otherwise end up in the Delta-Mendota Canal.[3]

The Jones Pumping Plant provides water service to 32 water districts within the western San Joaquin Valley, San Benito and Santa Clara counties. Of the approximate 3,000,000 acre-feet (3.7×109 m3) of water distributed, 2,500,000 acre-feet (3.1×109 m3) is delivered to farms, 200,000 acre-feet (250,000,000 m3) to urban areas, including Tracy and cities with in the Santa Clara Valley Water District, and 300,000 acre-feet (370,000,000 m3) for wildlife refuges.[4]

Specifications

  • pumps: six 22,500 HP electric motors [5]
  • normal lift: 197 feet (60 m)[6]
  • maximum pumping rate: 5200 cubic feet per second (2,000,000 gallons per minute, 8,500 acre-feet (10,500,000 m3) per day)[5]

References

  1. ^ "Tracy Pumping Plant Renamed to Honor C.W. "Bill" Jones". Archived from the original on 2008-11-02. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  2. ^ "Jones Pumping Plant" (PDF). usbr.gov. U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation California-Great Basin Region. January 2024.
  3. ^ "Tracy Fish Collection Facility—Map and Schematic". Tracy Research. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Archived from the original on 2010-03-15. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
  4. ^ "C.W. "Bill" Jones Pumping Plant and Tracy Fish Collection Facility" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2011.
  5. ^ a b "Jones Pumping Plant | SLDMWA". sldmwa.org. Archived from the original on 2016-12-28. Retrieved 2016-12-28.
  6. ^ "C.W. Bill Jones Pumping Plant - Water Education Foundation". watereducation.org. Retrieved 2016-12-28.