Lake Casitas Explained

Lake Casitas
Location:Ventura County, California, U.S.
Coords:34.3924°N -119.3346°W
Lake Type:Reservoir
Inflow:Coyote Creek
Santa Ana Creek
Outflow:Coyote Creek
Catchment:100km2
Agency:Casitas Municipal Water District
Cities:Oak View, Ojai
Basin Countries:United States
Length:5.3km (03.3miles)
Width:3km (02miles)
Area:1100acres
Max-Depth:240feet[1]
Volume:254000acre.ft
Shore:32.4miles
Elevation:103abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Pushpin Map:California#USA
Pushpin Map Alt:Location of Lake Casitas in California, USA.

Lake Casitas is a reservoir in Ventura County, California, built by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and completed in 1959.[2] The project provides drinking water and water for irrigation.[3] [4] A secondary benefit is flood control. It was the venue for canoeing and rowing at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Casitas Dam was constructed on Coyote Creek, two miles (3 km) before it joins the Ventura River. Santa Ana Creek and North Fork Coyote Creek also flow into the lake. The system was designed for water from the Ventura River to be diverted into a canal under specific conditions since the impounded watershed is not sufficient to fill the lake.[5] The dam is 279feet creating a lake capacity of 254000acre.ft.[6] The dam was built as part of the Ventura River Project.

History

The lake filled for the first time around the 1970s.[7] The spillway was first used in 1978. As of 2024, it has operated eight times.[8]

During the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Lake Casitas hosted the canoeing and rowing events.[9]

The Thomas Fire at the end of 2017 had a significant impact on operations since the wildfire burned a large area within the watershed of the Ventura River.[10] Rainstorms brought a lot of ash, sandy silt, gravel, and debris into the Robles diversion facility that had collected over several years since the fire resulting in some temporary shutdowns of water from the Ventura River.[11] [12]

Operations

The Casitas Municipal Water District provides drinking water to the Ojai Valley, parts of Ventura, and the Rincon coast north of Ventura.[13] They took over management of the Ojai water system by purchase of the franchise from Golden State Water Company in April 2017 after an overwhelming vote in favor.[14]

The Robles Diversion Dam was constructed on the Ventura River in 1958 to divert up to 107800acre.ft per year through a four-and-a-half mile canal (4.5disp=outNaNdisp=out) to the reservoir.[15] About 30 to 40% of the total water in Lake Casitas is supplied from high winter flows in the Ventura River.[16]

Regulations

Human contact with the water is prohibited by the Board of Directors at the Casitas Municipal Water District. The board states that since the Lake is used for drinking water, body contact with water is not allowed, but fishing, boating, rowing and camping are permitted.[17]

The "no body contact with water" lake policy was established by The Casitas Municipal Water District in the 1950s and 1960s because the lake did not have a filtration system in place. In the 1990s a multimillion-dollar filtration system upgrade was made to the Lake Casitas facility. The US Department of the Interior conducted a 10-year study on the lake where allowing body contact with water was explored. The study reported, "The capabilities of the current water filtration system to handle the additional burden of body contact were called into question. The system was shown to exceed current regulatory standards, and would “probably” be sufficient to mitigate body contact pollution as well".[18] The Casitas Municipal Water District has not significantly changed the "no body contact with water" regulations in response to the facilities upgrade.

Fauna

What is believed to be the only nesting pair of bald eagles on the mainland of Ventura County uses a large nest in a eucalyptus tree at the lake.[19] Two baby birds were born in the spring of 2022 and 2023.[20] [21] Bears are rare around the lake, but they have been spotted multiple times.[22]

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lake Casitas, CA: Lake Improvements . Navionics . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131020144731/http://www.navionics.com/sites/www.navionics.com/files/lakes/8-234-Casitas_CA_0.pdf . October 20, 2013 .
  2. News: Drought uncovers family history buried under Lake Casitas . Cheri . Carlson . . April 4, 2016. 5 April 2016. 2019-03-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20190330045931/http://archive.vcstar.com/news/special/outdoors/drought-uncovers-family-history-buried-under-lake-casitas-2f46e406-197b-4728-e053-0100007fdaed-374560281.html. live.
  3. News: Boyd-Barrett. Claudia . September 8, 2014. Ventura leans on lake for water for eastern half of city. Ventura County Star.
  4. News: Lake Casitas just 50 percent full. Ventura County Star. April 17, 2015. Staff.
  5. News: Lake Casitas gets OK to divert more water just as it passes the mark to do so. Carlson. Cheri. March 12, 2019. Ventura County Star. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20190329142556/https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/special-reports/outdoors/2019/03/12/casitas-municipal-water-district-gets-ok-divert-more-water-passes-mark-to-do-so/3049945002/. 2019-03-29. live. 16 March 2019.
  6. News: No rain could mean Lake Casitas runs dry in four years . . Cheri . Carlson. April 18, 2016 . 22 August 2016.
  7. News: All That The Rain Promises Questions remain as western Ventura moves toward a state water connection. 2017-04-20. VC Reporter Southland Publishing. en-US. 2019-05-24. Crawford Coates. Kit Stolz.
  8. Web site: Carlson . Cheri . April 23, 2024 . 'At the tippy top:' Ventura County's Lake Casitas hits capacity, highest level since 1998 . 2024-04-23 . Ventura County Star . en-US.
  9. http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1984/1984v1pt1.pdf 1984 Summer Olympics official report.
  10. News: Thomas Fire fallout blamed for second 'critical shutdown' at Lake Casitas facility. Carlson. Cheri. March 28, 2019. Ventura County Star. en. 29 March 2019.
  11. News: Carlson. Cheri. August 3, 2020. Longtime incumbent on Ojai Valley water board announces he will not seek re-election. 2020-08-04. Ventura County Star. en-US.
  12. News: Carlson. Cheri. December 16, 2021. Storm delivers small boost to drought-stressed Lake Casitas . 2021-12-17. Ventura County Star . en-US.
  13. News: Drought-stricken western Ventura County may need more than planned $45M pipeline as a fix. Cheri. Carlson. Ventura County Star. August 29, 2018. 30 August 2018. 30 March 2019. mdy-all. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20190330040315/http://www.vcstar.com/story/news/special-reports/outdoors/2018/08/29/ventura-state-water-pipeline-supply-gaps-metropolitan-drought/1089766002/.
  14. News: Casitas moves to take over Ojai water system . Claudia . Boyd-Barrett. . May 13, 2016 . 13 May 2016.
  15. Web site: Robles Dam . U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Reclamation . 2009-06-04 . 2013-03-16 . September 28, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160928174146/http://www.usbr.gov/projects/Facility.jsp?fac_Name=Robles+Dam . dead .
  16. News: Carlson . Cheri . April 2, 2024 . Lake Casitas edges closer to spilling for the first time in 25 years . 2024-04-03 . Ventura County Star . en-US.
  17. News: Carlson. Cheri. September 23, 2021. Review finds rust, safety issues at Lake Casitas water park. 2021-09-27. Ventura County Star. en-US.
  18. [Bureau of Reclamation]
  19. News: Kisken . Tom . January 27, 2022 . Updated: Ojai Valley's walking, talking eagle cam awaits babies in the nest . 2022-03-29 . Ventura County Star. limited.
  20. News: Kisken . Tom . July 5, 2023 . Baby eagles at Lake Casitas near Ojai learn landing is harder than flying . 2023-07-09 . Ventura County Star . en-US.
  21. News: Kisken . Tom . March 29, 2024 . Forget the cigars, these birds need trout: Eagle chick hatches at Lake Casitas . 2024-03-30 . Ventura County Star . en-US.
  22. https://www.casitaswater.org/lake-casitas-recreation-faq

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