Blog: Use of Shasta Dam TCD slide gates
The slide gates at the bottom of the Temperature Control Device (TCD) on the inside face of Shasta Dam (Figure 1) allow deeper, colder water in the reservoir to be drawn into the power plant intake penstocks and released to the river below. Use of the slide gates allows more colder water to be released for salmon in the river below in summer and fall in years when reservoir levels are low and the cold-water-pool is limited. In 2014 and 2015, NMFS and the Bureau of Reclamation learned that when the reservoir level is low and the slide gates are opened to access cold water, some warmer surface water is also drawn downward into the slide gate openings.