Castaic Lake and California Water History

Castaic lake in 1971. The dam is under construction and the lake slowly starts to fill.

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Castaic Lake in 1973. View from the main launch ramp.

Photo from 2015 during serious drought conditions. View is from the main entry road looking North in the Fish Arm of the lake.

The intake structure where water enters the main lake from the forebay. Photo taken in 2015 when the lake was down over 100’.

Looking into the “Fish Arm” of the Lake. 1966

Water from Elderberry Forebay, Creating Geysers

Elderberry Forebay, at the Northern end of Castaic Lake.

Water Sources for Castaic Lake

Castaic Dam is an embankment dam in Northern Los Angeles CountyCalifornia, near the unincorporated area of Castaic. Although located on Castaic Creek, a major tributary of the Santa Clara River, Castaic Creek provides little of its water. The lake is the terminus of the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, part of the State Water Project. The dam was built by the California Department of Water Resources and construction was completed in 1973. The lake has a capacity of 325,000 acre feet (401,000,000 m3) and stores drinking water for the western portion of the Greater Los Angeles Area.