Outdoorsy North State residents will soon be able to check weather and water conditions at Lake Shasta, or just be soothed by watching water trickle or gush out of Shasta Dam.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced Tuesday it will install an outdoor camera this summer at the Shasta Dam Visitor Center.
The new fixture celebrates Shasta Dam’s 80th anniversary, and will give people live views of the dam and surrounding areas, said Bureau of Reclamation spokesperson Michael Burke in a press release.
While anyone in the world will be able to tune in to see the dam holding back California’s largest reservoir, Lake Shasta, the purpose of the webcam is to “help the community know more about Shasta Dam” and the lake, said Burke. The live stream will allow boaters to check water conditions, and give reporters and meteorologists a way to see weather conditions at the dam in real time.
Burke is keeping mum about when the Shasta Dam Cam will begin broadcasting, but the bureau plans an update on Friday, June 27.
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Since its completion north of Redding in 1945, the 602-foot-high dam regulated the flow of the Sacramento River, providing hydroelectric power and flood control to the North State, Burke said in the press release.
Shasta Dam is also a linchpin of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Valley Project, a system that touches 35 California counties connected to the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River watersheds, according to the National Park Service. The two rivers stretch almost 500 miles, providing water to communities and to more than 250 kinds of crops, the park service reported on its Shasta Dam web page at nps.gov/articles/california-shasta-dam.
Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and news stories. Follow her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic and on Facebook. Join Jessica in the Get Out! Nor Cal recreation Facebook group. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: View Shasta Dam Cam when it gets placed to celebrate dam’s 1945 completion
Reporting by Jessica Skropanic, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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