Dam · United States

How much does Auburn Dam cost?

Auburn Dam was a proposed multipurpose dam and reservoir on California's North Fork American River, intended to support flood control, water supply and hydropower. Site work began in the late 1960s, including a diversion tunnel and a highway bridge, but major dam construction was halted after seismic concerns arose in 1975; the main dam was never completed. A 2006 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation appraisal revisited an older concrete-gravity design and estimated $9.598 billion to build the Auburn project, excluding earlier sunk costs. That was a planning-level estimate, not money spent or a present-day construction budget. California revoked the project's water-right permits in 2008, although a future reauthorization was not ruled out.