Echo Lakes, Tahoe - Gemstone to Jewel
What is the difference between gem and jewel? "Gems are precious stones, and these gems are polished, engraved and used with metals and wood to form artistic ornaments called jewels." - anonymous, paraphrased.
That is what happened to the Echo Lakes, just south of Lake Tahoe, California. Nature created the original gem, a glacier-carved valley with small and ordinary twin lakes. Today, the spectacular shoreline and lake scenery we see is a man-made jewel created by damming, originally for mining operations during the Gold Rush era. Ironically, the beauty came at the cost of devastated landscapes at lower elevation mining sites.
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
The 1966 western movie starring Clint Eastwood. Also, the history of water rights to Echo Lakes, born during the frenzied California gold rush era, and then maturing into a modern-day water & power district.
Good - 1. Scenery and recreation at Echo Lakes (and 4 other summit lakes), see above photo. 2. Water for agriculture, manufacturing, domestic consumption and hydro-electric power generation serving metropolitan Sacramento and El Dorado county cities. Echo Lakes is a water source.
Today, Echo Lakes is one of 5 lake sources for the El Dorado Irrigation District (EID), formed in 1925, and owns the rights to the entire watershed of the South Fork of the American River. In the picture below, of all the summit lakes, Echo Lake is the only one geologically on the eastern side of the Sierra Mountains divide, meaning rainwater and snowmelt should flow to the east side eventually into Nevada. But, due to man-made diversion, Echo Lake waters flow to the west side.
Bad - Originally, a stream connected Upper and Lower Echo Lakes, and the outflow from Echo Lake's natural drainage was Lake Tahoe, which feeds Truckee River that flows to Nevada. Then, in 1872-1876, a dam was built to raise lakes' levels, and a flume and tunnel (through the mountain) constructed to divert water for gold mining operations on the South Fork of the American River, which drains into Sacramento River and Delta. Numerous other summit lakes and streams were also dammed and diverted to supply the enormous water demands of gold mining operations.
The gold mining method created pressurized jets of water that literally ate away riverbanks and hills to expose gold ore. The method was fast, but wasteful and destructive to the natural environment; it was not sustainable. After usage, water was not recovered and recirculated back into mining operations, and substantial amounts of mining debris and waste water was allowed to wash downstream into the Sacramento River and Delta.
Ugly -The results were deposited debris that created hazard to navigation on the Sacramento River, frequently flooded agricultural lands, and polluted rivers and delta. In 1884, hydraulic mining was prohibited by a Federal Court injunction in areas tributary to the Sacramento River.
Although demand for water for mining purposes diminished, water for agriculture was in demand by the mid-1880's. Today, the ugliness of mining has been replaced by competition over water rights and legal battles between industry and environmental groups.
1852 - South Fork Canal Company was formed on July 10, 1852 to bring water to the mines in Placerville from the South Fork of the American River.
1856 - With opportunistic forsight, John Kirk claimed rights to the water of the South Fork of the American River, and storage claims on Audrain, Echo, Glacier, Medley (later renamed to Aloha) Lakes. Starts planning and construction of the then called "Sierra Ditch" to channel water from these sources to the South Fork of the American River. Later the Ditch is renamed to El Dorado Canal - ahh sounds much better.
1873 - El Dorado Water and Deep Gravel Mining Company incorporated, eventually acquired rights to all of the watershed of the South Fork of the American River with its contributing streams, including the summit lakes which feed them, and including the canals and ditches and their branches. Water is exclusively for mining needs.
1884 - Federal law was passed prohibiting the washing of dirt and soil into the river. Hydraulic mining quickly comes to a halt.
1916 - Western States Gas & Electric Company acquires El Dorado Mining Company. Later the financially troubled company was reorganized as the El Dorado Water Corporation.
1922 - Dams at summit lakes rebuilt. Forebay Lake and El Dorado Powerhouse were built to generate electricity.
1925 - El Dorado Irrigation District, EID, was formed under state irrigation district laws and took over the troubled El Dorado Water Corporation.
1927 - Pacific Gas & Electric Company, PG&E, buys out Western States.
1999 - El Dorado Power House Project transferred to EID. Power sold to EID customers of El Dorado County, and Sacramento Municipal Utility District, SMUD.
References:
https://www.thepollockpinesepic.com/title/water-and-hydroelectrics
http://www.eid.org/home/showdocument?id=4962
https://www.eid.org/about-us/document-library
https://www.eid.org/our-services/hydroelectric/project-184
https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=73547
https://www.sierracollege.edu/ejournals/jsnhb/v2n1/miningtechniques.html
http://cprr.org/Museum/Hydraulic_Mining/hydraulic_mining_1of1.html
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That is what happened to the Echo Lakes, just south of Lake Tahoe, California. Nature created the original gem, a glacier-carved valley with small and ordinary twin lakes. Today, the spectacular shoreline and lake scenery we see is a man-made jewel created by damming, originally for mining operations during the Gold Rush era. Ironically, the beauty came at the cost of devastated landscapes at lower elevation mining sites.
 |
| Upper and Lower Echo Lake |
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
The 1966 western movie starring Clint Eastwood. Also, the history of water rights to Echo Lakes, born during the frenzied California gold rush era, and then maturing into a modern-day water & power district.
Good - 1. Scenery and recreation at Echo Lakes (and 4 other summit lakes), see above photo. 2. Water for agriculture, manufacturing, domestic consumption and hydro-electric power generation serving metropolitan Sacramento and El Dorado county cities. Echo Lakes is a water source.
 |
| 1924 newly completed power house. Modernized and in use today. |
Today, Echo Lakes is one of 5 lake sources for the El Dorado Irrigation District (EID), formed in 1925, and owns the rights to the entire watershed of the South Fork of the American River. In the picture below, of all the summit lakes, Echo Lake is the only one geologically on the eastern side of the Sierra Mountains divide, meaning rainwater and snowmelt should flow to the east side eventually into Nevada. But, due to man-made diversion, Echo Lake waters flow to the west side.
 |
 |
| Flume (above), ditches and canals channelled water to mines. |
The gold mining method created pressurized jets of water that literally ate away riverbanks and hills to expose gold ore. The method was fast, but wasteful and destructive to the natural environment; it was not sustainable. After usage, water was not recovered and recirculated back into mining operations, and substantial amounts of mining debris and waste water was allowed to wash downstream into the Sacramento River and Delta.
 |
| Hydraulic mining. The water cannons called "monitors" were invented to tear down arroyos and hills and expose sediment containing gold. |
Ugly -The results were deposited debris that created hazard to navigation on the Sacramento River, frequently flooded agricultural lands, and polluted rivers and delta. In 1884, hydraulic mining was prohibited by a Federal Court injunction in areas tributary to the Sacramento River.
Although demand for water for mining purposes diminished, water for agriculture was in demand by the mid-1880's. Today, the ugliness of mining has been replaced by competition over water rights and legal battles between industry and environmental groups.
 |
| Today, scarred hills and bluffs at Malakoff Diggins more than a century after the gold rush. In 1884, Malakoff Diggins was the site of the nation's first environmental law issued by the federal government against the North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company (Sawyer Decision) to curtail the release of the mud, gravel, and debris that clogged streams and major rivers from the foothills down to San Francisco Bay. |
Optional Exercise
More readings below.
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Timeline of Water Rights to the South Fork of the American River:1852 - South Fork Canal Company was formed on July 10, 1852 to bring water to the mines in Placerville from the South Fork of the American River.
1856 - With opportunistic forsight, John Kirk claimed rights to the water of the South Fork of the American River, and storage claims on Audrain, Echo, Glacier, Medley (later renamed to Aloha) Lakes. Starts planning and construction of the then called "Sierra Ditch" to channel water from these sources to the South Fork of the American River. Later the Ditch is renamed to El Dorado Canal - ahh sounds much better.
1873 - El Dorado Water and Deep Gravel Mining Company incorporated, eventually acquired rights to all of the watershed of the South Fork of the American River with its contributing streams, including the summit lakes which feed them, and including the canals and ditches and their branches. Water is exclusively for mining needs.
1884 - Federal law was passed prohibiting the washing of dirt and soil into the river. Hydraulic mining quickly comes to a halt.
1916 - Western States Gas & Electric Company acquires El Dorado Mining Company. Later the financially troubled company was reorganized as the El Dorado Water Corporation.
1922 - Dams at summit lakes rebuilt. Forebay Lake and El Dorado Powerhouse were built to generate electricity.
1925 - El Dorado Irrigation District, EID, was formed under state irrigation district laws and took over the troubled El Dorado Water Corporation.
1927 - Pacific Gas & Electric Company, PG&E, buys out Western States.
1999 - El Dorado Power House Project transferred to EID. Power sold to EID customers of El Dorado County, and Sacramento Municipal Utility District, SMUD.
References:
https://www.thepollockpinesepic.com/title/water-and-hydroelectrics
http://www.eid.org/home/showdocument?id=4962
https://www.eid.org/about-us/document-library
https://www.eid.org/our-services/hydroelectric/project-184
https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=73547
https://www.sierracollege.edu/ejournals/jsnhb/v2n1/miningtechniques.html
http://cprr.org/Museum/Hydraulic_Mining/hydraulic_mining_1of1.html
MORE POSTS
SOLAR ECLIPSE
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