Pyramid Lake is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

formed by Pyramid Dam on

Piru Creek Piru Creek is a major stream, about long, in northern Los Angeles County and eastern Ventura County, California. It is a tributary of the Santa Clara River, the largest stream system in Southern California that is still relatively natural. The ...

in the eastern San Emigdio Mountains, near

Castaic Castaic () (Chumash: ''Kaštiq''; Spanish: ''Castéc'') is an unincorporated community in the northwestern part of Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 19,015. For statistical purposes the Census Bureau ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

. It is a part of the West Branch California Aqueduct, which is a part of the California State Water Project. Its water is fed by the system after being pumped up from the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

and through the Tehachapi Mountains.

History

In 1843, gold was discovered near what is now Pyramid Lake, in the Santa Feliciana Canyon, just south of what is now Pyramid Dam. The small find failed to trigger a rush to the mountainous countryside. Only Francisco Lopes, owner of Rancho Temescal, a Mexican land grant, and a handful of ranchers attempted to settle the region. This lake was created in 1972, and completed in 1973, as a holding reservoir for the California State Water Project. The lake was named after a pyramid-shaped rock carved out by engineers building U.S. Route 99. Travelers between Los Angeles and Bakersfield christened the landmark “Pyramid Rock,” which still stands just adjacent to the dam.

Geography

Pyramid Lake is the deepest lake in the California Water Project system, built up along the steep canyon walls surrounding

. The reservoir lies on the border between the

Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the U.S. Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County in southern California. The ANF manages a majority of the San Gabriel Mountai ...

and the

Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura to Mo ...

, in the northwestern portion of

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

. It is to the west of Interstate 5 (I-5) south of

Tejon Pass The Tejon Pass , previously known as ''Portezuelo de Cortes'', ''Portezuela de Castac'', and Fort Tejon Pass is a mountain pass between the southwest end of the Tehachapi Mountains and northeastern San Emigdio Mountains, linking Southern Calif ...

. The former alignment of US 99 is below the waters here, replaced by I-5. Pyramid Lake seen from the air, Pacific Ocean in the distance

Just below the dam, Piru Creek returns to its natural state as it winds down through the

Topatopa Mountains The Topatopa Mountains are a mountain range in Ventura County, California, north of Ojai, Santa Paula, and Fillmore. They are part of the Transverse Ranges of Southern California. Etymology A name for the mountains was first inscribed within ...

to feed into the

Lake Piru Lake Piru () is a reservoir located in Los Padres National Forest and Topatopa Mountains of Ventura County, California, created by the construction in 1955 of the Santa Felicia Dam on Piru Creek, which is a tributary of the Santa Clara River. ...

reservoir and later the Santa Clara River. Water from Pyramid Lake continues through the

Angeles Tunnel The Angeles Tunnel is a , water tunnel located in the Sierra Pelona Mountains in Los Angeles County, California, about north of Los Angeles."Angeles Tunnel", U.S. Geological Survey.''Pyramid Lake'' 2000, p. 1.American Society 1970, p. 131. It ...

to Castaic Lake, which is the terminus of the west branch of the aqueduct. Pyramid Lake California

Description

The earth and rock dam was built by the California Department of Water Resources and was completed in 1973. Pyramid Lake is part of the

California Aqueduct The Governor Edmund G. Brown California Aqueduct is a system of canals, tunnels, and pipelines that conveys water collected from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and valleys of Northern and Central California to Southern California. Named after Cali ...

, which is part of the California State Water Project. Outflow goes downstream to Castaic Lake, which is the terminus of this West Branch aqueduct line. Pyramid and Castaic lakes act as the upper and lower reservoirs for the Castaic Power Plant, a 1,495

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

pumped storage Pumping may refer to: * The operation of a pump, for moving a liquid from one location to another **The use of a breast pump for extraction of milk * Pumping (audio), a creative misuse of dynamic range compression * Pumping (computer systems), ...

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

plant located at Castaic Lake.CA—DWR: Pyramid Lake
/ref> The plant generates electricity from the water that flows down from Pyramid Lake to Castaic Lake, and can store energy by pumping water in the reverse direction when desired. It is the deepest lake in the California Water Project system. Its name comes from the Pyramid Rock, created when a ridge was cut through in 1932 by the Ridge Route Alternate (US 99). Pyramid Rock still exists directly in front of the dam.

Recreation

Pyramid Lake offers boating, fishing, jet skiing, and picnic areas (including 5 unique sites that are accessible only by boat), and courtesy docks. Vista del Lago Visitors Center overlooks the lake. Access is from exiting Interstate 5 at Vista Del Lago Road (Exit 191). Fishing is allowed from every location at Pyramid Lake. One can catch fish such as large mouth bass, small mouth bass, striped bass, blue gill, crappie, and some trout. The

California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, commonly referred to as OEHHA (pronounced oh-EEE-ha), is a specialized department within the cabinet-level California Environmental Protection Agency ( CalEPA) with responsibility for evaluatin ...

(OEHHA) has developed a safe eating advisory for fish caught in Piru Creek based on levels of mercury or PCBs found in local species.

References

External links