Jeff and I took a nice trip to Southern California for a Rodeo weekend in
Banning, California outside of Palm Springs for the weekend. We were camping with our two chocolate
Labradors, Summer and Skye. While on our
camping adventure we set out to several lakes and reservoirs over the long
weekend.
I visited San Justo Reservoir on my way home on 05/06/2019. San Justo Reservoir is a 202 acre reservoir
at an elevation of 407 feet above sea level about three miles southwest of
Hollister. The dam provides off stream water storage for the federal Central
Valley Project via the Pacheco Conduit and Hollister Conduit fed by the San
Luis Reservoir.
Completed in January 1986, the dam is an earthfill structure 151 feet
high. Along with a companion dike structure 79 feet high, it forms a reservoir
with a capacity of about 9,785 acre-feet.
Unfortunately, San Justo Reservoir was closed in 2008, following a Zebra
Mussle infection and remains closed until further notice. Zebra mussels have turned up in San Justo
Reservoir causing authorities to close the reservoir to private boats. The
discovery spurred the Department of Fish and Game to dispatch divers to 10 South
Bay reservoirs to see if the mussel is infesting new territory.
The mussel, about the size of a dime, clumps together in large colonies
that can block reservoir valves and clog water pipes as surely as plaque in the
aorta. This Reservoir is still closed
after all these years however I was able to speak to one of the Drinking Water
certified operators and he was nice enough to allow me in to the dam to take a
few pictures.
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