: a reservoir or canal from which water is taken to run equipment (such as a waterwheel or turbine)
Examples of forebay in a Sentence
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The 1,100 acres of J.G. Boswell’s land, a small portion of the company’s vast croplands, would provide a strategic location for a low-lying forebay to take in floodwaters from the Kings and Tule rivers and pump water into the reservoir, Ennis said.
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Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2025
Some environmentalists have urged the state to redesign the reservoir and erect large screens that would prevent fish from being drawn into the forebay, but state water officials say that wouldn’t solve the problems.
—Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2024
Water flows from the Delta through a series of gates into the shallow, 2-mile-wide forebay as a staging area for the pumps.
—Denis Cuff, The Mercury News, 15 Mar. 2017
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Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2025
Some environmentalists have urged the state to redesign the reservoir and erect large screens that would prevent fish from being drawn into the forebay, but state water officials say that wouldn’t solve the problems.
—Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2024
Water flows from the Delta through a series of gates into the shallow, 2-mile-wide forebay as a staging area for the pumps.
—Denis Cuff, The Mercury News, 15 Mar. 2017
Cite this Entry
“Forebay.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forebay. Accessed 26 Jul. 2025.
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