earthen dam
An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...
Santa Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains ( Mutsun Ohlone: Mak-sah-re-jah, "Sharp Ridged Mountain of the Eagle" or "People of the Eagle Mountain") are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States, constituting a part of the Pacific Coast R ...
of
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. At several points it is over 140' deep and its normal surface area is 96 acres. It provides 12% of San Jose Water Works’ total water capacity in some years. The lake and dam is owned by the
San Jose Water Company
SJW Group ("SJW") is a water utility processing, distribution, wholesale and retail company based in San Jose, California. It serves 228,000 connections that serves over 1 million residents in regions of California, and approximately 17,000 connec ...
,
In 1988 and 1989, two earthquakes at ''M''=5.3 and 5.4 respectively occurred at Lake Elsman that transferred stress that led to the 1989 ''M''=6.9
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. Pacific Time Zone, PST, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred at the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz Cou ...
.
Austrian Dam
Construction of the Austrian Dam was completed in 1950. Beneath the reservoir are the remains of the settlements of Austrian Gulch and Germantown. The dam is more than long and high. The dam was damaged in the Loma Prieta quake. The performance of Austrian Dam during that earthquake reinforces concerns about damage to the tops of earth dams by earthquakes.
See also
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List of dams and reservoirs in California
Following is a list of dams and reservoirs in California in a sortable table. There are over 1,400 named dams and 1,300 named reservoirs in the state of California.
Dams in service
:''Please add to this list from the below sources.''
Former ...
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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 ...