Lower Otay Reservoir | |
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Location | San Diego County, California |
Coordinates | 32°38′14″N116°55′30″W / 32.6372°N 116.9249°W |
Type | Reservoir |
Part of | Otay and Proctor Valleys [1] |
Primary inflows | Otay River San Diego Aqueduct |
Primary outflows | Otay River |
Basin countries | United States |
Managing agency | City of San Diego |
Surface area | 1,100 acres (450 ha) [2] |
Average depth | 124 ft (38 m) (August 2009) [3] |
Max. depth | 137.5 ft (41.9 m) [2] |
Water volume | 49,500 acre⋅ft (61.1×10 6 m3) |
Shore length1 | 25 mi (40 km) [2] |
Surface elevation | 381 ft (116 m) |
Website | www |
References | U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lower Otay Reservoir |
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1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. |
Lower Otay Reservoir is a reservoir in San Diego County, California. It is flanked by Otay Mountain to the southeast, the Jamul Mountains to the east, Otay Lakes Road and Upper Otay Reservoir to the north, and the city of Chula Vista to the west.
The reservoir is formed by impounding the waters of the Otay River, behind Savage Dam, completed in 1918, and is also the terminus for the second San Diego Aqueduct, [4] which transports imported water from the Colorado River. [5] The dam and reservoir are owned by the City of San Diego.
The area where the Reservoir is located was part of Rancho Janal, and was purchased by E. S. Babcock. [6] Lower Otay Reservoir was originally created in 1897 after the construction of Lower Otay Dam by the Southern California Mountain Water Company. [7] The original dam was a rock fill type of 125 feet (38 m) high. [8] In 1900, John D. Spreckels purchased the land around the reservoir, and the reservoir was later acquired by a company owned by Spreckels. [9] At the lake was a hunting lodge that was utilized by guests of Hotel del Coronado. [6] [10]
The original dam gave way in January 1916 following heavy rains which affected most of Southern California flooding the Otay Valley with a wall of water ranging from 20 to 100 feet (6.1 to 30.5 m) in height during the event, killing more than 14 people. [8] The flood swept away entire farms and buildings, including the Montgomery residence at Fruitland near the mouth of the river, where John J. Montgomery had built his initial series of manned glider designs. [11] The rains were ostensibly the work of the "rainmaker" Charles Hatfield, who had been hired by the City of San Diego to assist in increasing rainfall to fill nearby Morena Reservoir. He was never charged with any crimes. Following this the present Arch-gravity dam was built. [8] In 1934, it was named in honor of Hiram Newton Savage, the city engineer who supervised its construction. [12]
In 1936, Stephen Birch purchased the land around the reservoir, which had been Rancho Otay. His daughter Mary inherited the land and, marrying a former Royal Air Force commander, moved into the former hunting lodge on Upper Otay Lake, Rancho del Otay. [7]
A Curtiss SB2C Helldiver plane was spotted in the lake in February 2009 by a bass fisherman. On May 28, 1945, it had been on a practice bombing run from a nearby aircraft carrier when a stalled engine forced an emergency landing in the reservoir. [13] Divers examined the plane on July 23, 2009, to see if it could be salvaged for museum display, and it was raised on August 20, 2010. [14]
Bonita is a census-designated place (CDP) in southern San Diego County, California, nestled between the cities of Chula Vista, National City, and San Diego. The population was 12,538 at the 2010 census.
Chula Vista is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh-most populous city in Southern California, the 15th-most populous city in the state of California, and the 82nd-most populous city in the United States. The population was 275,487 as of the 2020 census, up from 243,916 as of the 2010 census. Located in the South Bay, about halfway—7.5 miles (12.1 km)—between the two downtowns of the San Diego–Tijuana transborder metropolitan area. Chula Vista is named for its scenic location between San Diego Bay and coastal mountain foothills.
The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino and Riverside counties, before cutting through the northern Santa Ana Mountains via Santa Ana Canyon and flowing southwest through urban Orange County to drain into the Pacific Ocean. The Santa Ana River is 96 miles (154 km) long, and its drainage basin is 2,650 square miles (6,900 km2) in size.
Charles Mallory Hatfield was an American "rainmaker".
The South Bay, also known as South County, is a region in southwestern San Diego County, California, consisting of the cities and unincorporated communities of Bonita, Chula Vista, East Otay Mesa, Imperial Beach, Lincoln Acres, National City, and South San Diego.
Otay Ranch High School (ORHS) is a public high school in Chula Vista, California. It primarily serves the Chula Vista developments of Otay Ranch and Rancho Del Rey.
The Otay River is a river in southern San Diego County, California. The 25 mi (40 km) river begins at San Miguel Mountain, flows through the Upper and Lower Otay Reservoirs, and continues on between the southern part of the Chula Vista and the Otay Mesa West district of San Diego, to its river mouth on San Diego Bay.
The Sweetwater River is a 55-mile (89 km) long stream in San Diego County, California. From its headwaters high in the Cuyamaca Mountains, the river flows generally southwest, first through rugged hinterlands but then into the urban areas surrounding its mouth at San Diego Bay. Its drainage basin covers more than 230 square miles (600 km2), all of it within San Diego County.
South San Diego is a district within San Diego, and is in the larger South Bay region of southwestern San Diego County, California. It is a practical exclave of San Diego, having no land connection with the rest of the city. It is the only part of the city which borders Mexico. South San Diego includes four of the city's official community planning areas: Otay Mesa, Otay Mesa-Nestor, San Ysidro, and the Tijuana River Valley.
Santiago Creek is a major watercourse in Orange County in the U.S. state of California. About 34 miles (55 km) long, it drains most of the northern Santa Ana Mountains and is a tributary to the Santa Ana River. It is one of the longest watercourses entirely within the county. The creek shares its name with Santiago Peak, at 5,687 ft (1,733 m) the highest point in Orange County, on whose slopes its headwaters rise.
San Diego Creek is a 16-mile (26 km) urban waterway flowing into Upper Newport Bay in Orange County, California, United States. Its watershed covers 112.2 square miles (291 km2) in parts of eight cities, including Irvine, Tustin, and Costa Mesa. From its headwaters in Laguna Woods the creek flows northwest to its confluence with Peters Canyon Wash, where it turns abruptly southwest towards the bay. Most of the creek has been converted to a concrete flood control channel, but it also provides important aquatic and riparian habitat along its course and its tidal estuary.
The San Dieguito River is a major river in Southern California, United States. Its headwaters rise on the southern slope of the Volcan Mountains in San Diego County, and the river flows generally southwest for 23.8 miles (38.3 km), draining 346 square miles (900 km2) before emptying into the Pacific Ocean 20 miles (32 km) north of San Diego.
Palm City is a neighborhood in the southern section of San Diego, California. Its neighbors are Otay Mesa West to the south and east, Egger Highlands and Nestor to the west, and Chula Vista to the north. It also serves as a gateway to the beach cities of Imperial Beach, and Coronado, by way of the Silver Strand isthmus, due to it being where California State Route 75 meets Interstate 5. Major thoroughfares include Coronado Avenue, Hollister Street, Beyer Boulevard, and Palm Avenue.
Otay Mesa West is a residential neighborhood in the southern section of San Diego, California. It borders Interstate 805 to the east, Interstate 5 to the west, and California State Route 905 to the south. It neighbors Ocean View Hills to the east, Nestor and Palm City to the west and Chula Vista to the north. The northern boundary of Otay Mesa West roughly coincides with the Otay River. Just north of the Otay River the community of Otay resides within the city of Chula Vista. Major thoroughfares include Palm Avenue, Coronado Avenue, Picador Boulevard, Del Sol Boulevard, Beyer Boulevard, and Beyer Way.
Sweetwater Dam is a dam across the Sweetwater River in San Diego County, California. It is located approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of San Diego, 9 miles (14 km) and borders Bonita to the southwest and La Presa to the northeast. The 108-foot (33 m)-high masonry arch dam impounds 960-acre (390 ha) Sweetwater Reservoir.
Savage Dam is a dam across the Otay River in the San Ysidro Mountains of southwestern San Diego County, California. It is a concrete arch gravity structure 149 feet (45 m) high, and serves to store water from the San Diego Aqueduct's third pipeline for backup municipal uses in the San Diego metropolitan area. It is just over 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Chula Vista and 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the Mexico-US border. The dam is named in honor of H. N. Savage, who directed its construction.
Morena Dam is a rockfill dam across Cottonwood Creek, a tributary of the Tijuana River in southern San Diego County, California. Originally completed in 1912 and raised several times afterward, the dam is one of the oldest components of the city of San Diego's municipal water system, providing between 1,600 to 15,000 acre-feet of water per year. It is one of the few facilities in the San Diego water supply system that relies entirely on local runoff.
Barrett Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in southern San Diego County, California, United States, forming Barrett Lake on Cottonwood Creek. The dam is part of the city of San Diego's local water supply system.
Rancho Melijo, or Milijo, was a Mexican land grant rancho, named after a local Kumeyaay village. It was later called Rancho La Punta for the location of the Arguello family ranch house, on a point of hills overlooking the south end of San Diego Bay, north of the Otay River and east of where the river entered the south bend of the bay. It was granted by Governor José Figueroa in 1833 to Santiago E. Argüello.
Rancho del Otay Airfield was a private runway in Chula Vista, California on Rancho del Otay. Industrialist Stephen Birch owned and built Rancho del Otay on 29,000 acre of land just west of the Lower Otay Reservoir. The land Stephen Birch purchased in 1939 was part of the vast Rancho Otay. Stephen Birch died in 1940 and his daughter Mary inherited 11 acres of Rancho del Otay. Mary had a large cattle and agricultural ranch on the land, first called Otay Agricultural Corporation and later United Enterprises. Mary ferried US built planes to England during World War 2 and built a short runway on here land. Mary Birch married Patrick R. Patrick in 1955 and moved into the Spreckels hunting lodge. Patrick was a retired wing commander in the Royal Air Force. In 1984 Mary donated land to the Chula Vista Community Hospital, now the Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center. After Mary Birch death on November 20, 1983, the ranch was purchased in 1988 by the Baldwin Company for development. Mary's estate was in San Diego County probate court case for years. In the end the land was divided to relatives, friends, and former employees. The airfield abandoned and now surrounded by homes. The airfield is located east of the intersection of Otay Lakes Drive & Woods Road.
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