New Melones Lake provides irrigation water, hydroelectric power, flood control, and wildlife habitat.

The Archie Stevenot Bridge, completed in 1976, carries Hwy 49 across the lake and border between Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties.

Water was immediately diverted, the riverbeds scoured for gold, and the banks inhabited by miners and the businesses that served them.

Cultural resources affected by the project were transferred to the Department of the Interior with the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Services (HCRS, a short-lived organization that was established during the Carter administration) responsible for the archaeological mitigation program.

The reservoir was used to conceal five murder victims by Jurijus Kadamovas and Iouri Mikhel in late 2001 and early 2002.

Exhibits focus on the use of the Stanislaus River by prehistoric and historic peoples, including Miwok Indians, the California Gold Rush, ranchers, and the now defunct community of Robinson Ferry, renamed Melones in 1902.