Diaz Lake, elevation ,
is located in the
Owens Valley
Owens Valley (Mono language (California), Mono: ''Payahǖǖnadǖ'', meaning "place of flowing water") is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States. It is located to the east of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra ...
, just south of
Lone Pine, California
Lone Pine is a census-designated place (CDP) in Inyo County, California, United States, located south-southeast of Independence. The population was 2,035 at the 2010 census, up from 1,655 at the 2000 census. The town is located in the Owens ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It covers .
History
The lake was formed by the
1872 Lone Pine earthquake
The 1872 Owens Valley earthquake – also known as the Lone Pine earthquake – struck on March 26 at in the Owens Valley (California, along the east side of the Sierra Nevada), with the epicenter near the town of Lone Pine. Its magnitude has ...
on Tuesday, March 26 of that year when of the Owens Valley dropped approximately 20 feet (6 m) (see
graben
In geology, a graben () is a depression (geology), depressed block of the Crust (geology), crust of a planet or moon, bordered by parallel normal faults.
Etymology
''Graben'' is a loan word from German language, German, meaning 'ditch' or 't ...
) and a new spring opened, causing water to fill the lowland.
The lake was named for the Diaz family who established a ranch here when brothers Rafael and Eleuterio Diaz emigrated from
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
in the 1860s. They owned and operated a successful
cattle ranch
A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...
until the land was sold to the city of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
.
Access
Year-round fishing is available,
and the "Diaz Lake Fish Derby" is held the first Saturday in March.
See also
*
List of lakes in California
There are more than 3,000 named lakes, reservoirs, and dry lakes in the U.S. state of California.
Largest lakes
In terms of area covered, the largest lake in California is the Salton Sea, a lake formed in 1905 which is now saline. It occup ...
References
Lakes of the Mojave Desert
Lakes of Inyo County, California
Lakes of California
Lakes of Southern California
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