The dam and reservoir lie in the Sierra Nevada foothills in San Joaquin County.

The purpose of Camanche Dam and reservoir is to provide flood control, water flows for agriculture, habitat for fisheries and recreation for community.

Though Camanche survived through the decades, few residents were left by the time the town was emptied so that the East Bay Municipal Utility District could build a dam and reservoir in the early 1960s.

To make way for a huge dam and its large reservoir, the town had to go along with the 40 or 50 families who called Camanche home.

Below it, are the East Bay fish facilities, including the largest artificial salmon spawning channel in the world, and the first of its kind in California.

EBMUD and the state's Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board attempted to solve the flow of acid mine drainage into the reservoir and river, but their efforts led higher concentrations of acid mine drainage and continued fish kills in the Mokelumne.

The wells allow underground water to escape the base of Camanche, thereby relieving undue pressure to the structure.

Also, the spillway has 182,000 cubic feet per second capacity which are around six times the amount of the biggest flood in the reservoir's history.

Due to the lake's capacity over 7,700 acres of water and 56 miles of shoreline at full pool, the reservoir leased to Camanche Regional Park District by the EBMUD to develop for recreation.

Therefore, it's perfect shortcut for visitors who are seeking mountain and forest setting in Grinding Rock State Park by taking a short drive up on Highway 88.