Nimbus Dam California-1982: Spectators on a Grassy Bank Watch Floodwater Pour Through Dam Gates

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$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

Year1982
Decade1980s
LocationNimbus Dam, California, United States
Duration4s
Price$149 USD
Collection1982 · Nimbus Dam, California, United States
StatusStockfilm Exclusive

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use

$149 USD flat · royalty-free worldwide · 4K restored master (MP4)

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From the same film reel

1982 · Sacramento & Nimbus Dam · Reel eb27900e contains 6 published Stockfilm-exclusive clips. Watch them in reel order and review the available reel documentation.

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Same year and place1982 · Nimbus Dam, California, United StatesExplore footage →Across the archiveFilmed in 1982Explore the year →Across the yearsNimbus Dam, California, United StatesExplore the place →

What is in this clip

flood
water release
dam infrastructure
sightseeing
river power
winter runoff
public spectacle

Shot type: wide
Camera: pan · handheld
Setting: outdoor · Riverbank below a concrete gated dam with grassy slope, wire fence and oak-covered hills
Time and weather: midday · winter · Partly cloudy
Lighting: Bright daylight with broken cloud, even exposure
People: 5 · Small, distant adult and young figures in casual 1970s-early 1980s clothing such as flared jeans and light jackets, standing on the bank watching the water; faces are not discernible.
Landmarks: Nimbus Dam
Objects: concrete spillway · radial dam gates · wire fence · fence posts · bare shrubs · possible fishing rod
Colors: slate grey · white · muted green · cool blue
Master dimensions: 3840 × 2160
Audio: Silent
Date confidence: Low
Location confidence: High

Moments in the footage

Select a time to watch that moment in the preview.

Wide view of the open spillway gates with a green hill at left and onlookers on the bank.
The camera drifts right and the hill leaves the frame as white water churns below the gates.
Two more spectators appear at the right edge of the bank.
The shot settles on the full row of gates releasing water above the watching group.

Spectators on a Grassy Bank Watch Floodwater Pour... — Clip Details

Nimbus Dam on the American River, California, circa 1982 home movie footage. Water pours through the open gates of a long concrete spillway into a churning, swollen river under a cloudy sky, with green oak-dotted hills behind. A handful of spectators stand on a grassy bank in the foreground beside a low wire fence, one with hands on hips and two others standing close together. The single wide shot drifts slowly right on Super 8 colour film.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 4s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 800002181

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Commercial Direct license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

Editorial use is the safest path. For commercial use, a clearance review is recommended for the flags below.

People visible: Yes
Minors visible: No
Logos / trademarks: No
Audible music: No

Flags come from automated catalog metadata, not a legal opinion. The source is an original 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie reel. For high-stakes commercial use, request a full rights review.

Source & Documentation

Source reel: Reel record not linked for this clip
Date: 1982 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual or technical evidence; no reel-level note is linked.
Location: Nimbus Dam, California, United States Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate based on source metadata and visual evidence such as signage, landmarks, or terrain; no reel-level note is linked.
Licensing route: Direct license available from Stockfilm

Confidence labels are defined on Archive Integrity. Fields without a recorded value are shown as not recorded rather than assumed.

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Topics & Keywords

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: Serves requests for early-1980s California flood or water-infrastructure imagery, giving documentaries and local history films a real visitor view of a dam in high release.
Period detail: Flared jeans and casual jackets on the onlookers may show late-1970s to early-1980s fashion, and the colour stock fits Super 8 of that era.
Home-movie behavior: A visitor-shot view: the filmmaker stands among ordinary sightseers who came out to watch the river run high, capturing unstaged curiosity rather than an official record.
What appears in frame: A long row of open spillway gates, foaming white water, a swollen grey river, green oak-dotted hills, a grassy bank with a wire fence, and a few spectators watching.
Film character: Fine Super 8 grain, soft focus at distance, muted greens and cool blues, plus occasional dust specks and a stray hair give honest projected-film texture.
Edit role: Works as an establishing shot for a flood sequence, a cutaway between headline and river shots, or a memory beat of a family outing to see high water.
Historical context: Nimbus Dam, finished in 1955, regulates releases from Folsom Dam and marks the head of the American River Parkway, so crowds gathering here signals unusually high flows.
Research note: Copyright in the film rests with the home-movie source; the distant onlookers are not readily identifiable but likeness caution applies, and the dam is federal infrastructure with no visible logos.
Research search match: Researchers might search 'Nimbus Dam flood release Super 8', 'people watching dam spillway 1980s' or 'American River high water home movie'.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with this reel's Sacramento Bee flood headline, Nimbus Dam sign and spillway, parkway sign, flooded-river sunset and beaver clips, then other circa-1982 Sacramento flood footage, then dam-release scenes.

Still Frames From This Clip

Onlookers on a grassy bank watch Nimbus Dam release floodwater into the American River, California, circa 1982 — Spectators gather on the bank below the open spillway gates, with an oak-covered hill rising behind.
License this still · $49

Super 8 view of sightseers watching high water churn below Nimbus Dam on the American River, circa 1982 — A lone figure with hands on hips and a small group nearby watch the river surge below the gates.
License this still · $49

Wide home-movie view of Nimbus Dam gates in flood release with spectators on the California riverbank, circa 1982 — As the camera drifts right, more onlookers appear at the edge of the bank above the rushing river.
License this still · $49

Sightseers watch a winter high-water release at Nimbus Dam, Sacramento County, California, circa 1982 Super 8 film — The shot settles on the full spillway in release, the watching group small against the scale of the water.
License this still · $49

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