Pit River

About

Pit River Hydroelectric System. The Pit runs 207 miles through Modoc, Lassen, and Shasta counties in northeastern California, rated Class II–III with an optimal flow window of 500 to 2,500 CFS at USGS gauge 11365000, where the average sits near 1,100 CFS. Those numbers describe a river that has been measured for more than a century. The 1870s–1890s USGS survey, the 1880s–1910s establishment of USGS gauging stations, and the 1910s–1930s state geological streamflow assessments were the first comprehensive hydrological studies of the Pit, later followed by 1950s–1970s state water pollution control studies and 1972–2000 Clean Water Act assessments that addressed more than 100 years of logging, agricultural, and industrial impacts.

The Achomawi and their southern neighbors, the Atsugewi, inhabited the Pit River watershed for thousands of years, relying on the river's salmon, trout, and waterfowl. The name itself records the deep pits the Achomawi dug along canyon trails and riverbanks to trap deer; 'Achomawi' means 'river people.' The Pit River Tribe today represents 11 autonomous bands, carrying forward a presence on the land that predates every survey and dam.

The river's industrial history began in the 1830s, when the watershed was logged to support the 1850–1910s regional timber industry and the 1860–1910s railroad expansion. Local sawmills, logging drives, and downstream lumber operations were the major operators through the 1920s. The 1910 exhaustion of the old-growth stands, the 1915 start of state forestry conservation, and the 1930s establishment of state forests ended large-scale logging in the Pit country.

Water power reshaped the river next. Beginning around 1920, Pacific Gas and Electric developed a chain of hydroelectric plants on the Pit — among the largest in northeastern California — diverting flow where the Fall River enters near Fall River Mills to generate power at the Pit 1 Powerhouse. That chain grew into the Pit River Hydroelectric Project within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. In 2007, the FERC relicensing of PG&E's project committed to improved minimum flows, trout habitat funding, and recreational access. The settlement recognized the Pit as one of California's premier wild trout fisheries and stabilized flows for both fishing and paddling.

Today the river runs in distinct powerhouse reaches. The Pit 3 section, from Lake Britton to the Pit 3 Powerhouse, is a Class II trophy trout stretch. Pit 4 is a Class II–III run through a volcanic canyon holding wild trout, and Pit 5 carries the final Class II–III reach down to Lake Shasta. Guides like The Fly Shop in Redding work the wild trout water, while the current that once fed pitfall traps now fills the reservoir behind Shasta Dam.