03/24/2026
Hey residents of Redding, Old Shasta and Happy Valley, if you drink tap water, did you know that YOU HAVE OVER 40 POUNDS (or 5 gallons) OF WHISKEYTOWN LAKE INSIDE YOU? In other words, at least half the water in your body is from Whiskeytown Lake!
About half the municipal water supply for Redding comes from Whiskeytown Lake via an intake below our Visitor Center, much more than half comes to Old Shasta from the same intake, and almost all of Happy Valley's H20 comes from an intake at Whiskeytown Dam.
While all of this water is treated by either the City of Redding or the Clear Creek Community Services District before entering your home, we still think it is a beautiful and fascinating connection YOU have with US. We also think it's a beautiful and important thing that the reservoir has such generally clean water, and this raises a great question...
***Why is Whiskeytown Lake Usually Clean and Clear?***
It comes down to a few key factors:
• Two high-quality water sources:
– Cold, clean mountain streams like Clear Creek, Brandy Creek, and Boulder Creek.
– Water imported through the Clear Creek Tunnel from the Trinity River system.
• Natural “pre-filtering”:
Trinity and Lewiston Lakes act like settling basins, allowing sediment to drop out before water reaches Whiskeytown.
• Stable water levels:
Whiskeytown Lake operates on just two seasonal levels (winter and summer), which reduces shoreline erosion compared to reservoirs with constant fluctuations.
• Protected, low-impact surroundings:
Most of the land feeding the lake is forested, rural, and publicly protected. With very little agriculture or urban development upstream, there’s far less pollution entering the system.
All of that adds up to something pretty special: a clean, reliable water source—and a daily, living connection between you and Whiskeytown Lake.
Next time you take a sip, you’re a little closer to the lake than you might think.
Happy World Water Day, a United Nation's initiative held annually on March 22 that focuses on the importance of fresh water.