Santa Margarita Lake facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Santa Margarita Lake |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
 Santa Margarita Lake
Location in California
Santa Margarita Lake
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | San Luis Obispo County, California |
| Coordinates | 35°19′40″N 120°28′15″W / 35.32787°N 120.47092°W |
| Type | Reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Salinas River |
| Primary outflows | Salinas River |
| Basin countries | United States |
Santa Margarita Lake, also known as Salinas Reservoir, is a beautiful lake located a few miles southeast of Santa Margarita in San Luis Obispo County, California. This lake was formed when the Salinas Dam was built on the Salinas River. The dam is very close to where the river starts in the Santa Lucia Range mountains.
Contents
About Santa Margarita Lake
The dam that created Santa Margarita Lake was built in 1941 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Its main purpose was to provide water for Camp San Luis Obispo, a military base. Today, the lake is an important source of drinking water for the city of San Luis Obispo. The city also gets water from Lake Nacimiento and Whale Rock Reservoir near Cayucos.
Lake Size and Activities
Santa Margarita Lake is not a huge lake. It can hold about 23,843 acre-feet of water. Because the lake provides drinking water, people are not allowed to swim or have direct contact with the water. However, there are still many fun things to do!
- Boating and rowing are very popular activities.
- Many people enjoy fishing in the lake.
- There are also camping spots along the shore for visitors.
The San Luis Obispo Rowing Club even uses the lake for their activities.
Fish and Wildlife
Santa Margarita Lake is home to many different kinds of fish. If you like to fish, you might catch:
- Largemouth bass
- Catfish
- Carp
- Black crappie
- Various types of sunfish
Getting Around the Lake
There are dirt roads that go almost all the way around the lake. These roads have a speed limit of 15 miles per hour (24 km/h). This is because the roads can be bumpy and vehicles can kick up a lot of dust, even when driving slowly. Many visitors also park on the side of the road to fish.
On the lake itself, the usual speed limit for boats is 5 miles per hour (8 km/h). However, in certain areas and depending on conditions, boats can go faster, up to 30 miles per hour (48 km/h).
Future Plans for the Lake
There is a plan to make the dam at Santa Margarita Lake taller by 19 feet (8 meters). This would involve adding a special gate called a spillway gate, which was part of the dam's original design. Making the dam taller would allow the lake to hold more water.
Concerns About Trees
One big concern about raising the dam is that many trees would be lost because the area would be flooded. In the area that would be covered by more water, there are:
- 1,639 coast live oak trees
- 633 blue oak trees
- 198 valley oak trees
- 469 gray pine trees
Losing these oak trees is a worry for the environment. Oak trees in this area are already facing challenges, like a disease called sudden oak death.
