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 and ...
Santa Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States. They form a ridge down the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco. They separate the Pacific Ocean from ...
of
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. 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, San Jose, California. It serves 228,000 connections that serves over 1 million residents in regions of California, and approx ...
,
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
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake occurred on California's Central Coast on October 17 at local time. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, approximately northeast of Santa Cruz on a section of t ...
.
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 occupies ...