Thursday, September 20, 2018

Lower Otay Reservoir - San Diego County, California


Visited on 9/15/2018, during a visit to the San Diego area proctoring Drinking Water Operator Certification examinations after the exams I visited two lakes southeast of downtown San Diego.  Lower Otay Reservoir is a 1,110 surface acre reservoir at an elevation of 381 feet above sea level located southeast of Chula Vista, California. Lower Otay is in the rolling chaparral covered hills with 13 miles of shoreline.  It is flanked by Otay County Open Space Preserve in the San Ysidro Mountains on the east.  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 San Diego Aqueduct, which transports imported water from the Colorado River. The dam and reservoir are owned by the City of San Diego.
In 1897, the first Lower Otay Dam was completed by the Southern California Mountain Water Company. The Lower Otay Reservoir was connected to the City of San Diego's water system in 1906 via the Bonita Pipeline.  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 in height during the event, killing more than 14 people. 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. 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. The dam was rebuilt in 1918 and renamed Savage Dam. The Lower Otay reservoir serves as a terminal reservoir for a significant sized watershed, imported water aqueducts and a source of local water for the Otay Drinking Water Treatment Plant. For these reasons, the reservoir intentionally operates at a higher capacity level than many of the other City reservoirs which are used primarily for storage and rely on local rain and snow runoff.

The reservoir is the home of the United States Olympic Training center for rowing sports.




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