Lake Kaweah 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 contro ...
near
Lemon Cove in
Tulare County, California
Tulare County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 473,117. The county seat is Visalia. The county is named for Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lake ...
. The lake is formed by
Terminus Dam
Terminus Dam is a dam on the Kaweah River in Tulare County, California in the United States, located near Three Rivers about from the western boundary of Sequoia National Park and east of Visalia. The dam forms Lake Kaweah for flood control a ...
on the
Kaweah River
The Kaweah River is a river draining the southern Sierra Nevada in Tulare County, California in the United States. Fed primarily by high elevation snowmelt along the Great Western Divide, the Kaweah begins as four forks in Sequoia National Park ...
. The river originates in the
Sierra Nevada and drains about into Lake Kaweah before flowing towards 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 ...
. From Lake Kaweah, the river flows toward the city of
Visalia
Visalia ( ) is a city in the agricultural San Joaquin Valley of California. The population was 141,384 as per the 2020 census. Visalia is the fifth-largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, the 42nd most populous in California, and 192nd in ...
, splitting into the Kaweah River and St. Johns River as it flows west into the
Tulare Lake
Tulare Lake () ( Spanish: ''Laguna de Tache'', Yokuts: ''Pah-áh-su'') is a freshwater dry lake with residual wetlands and marshes in the southern San Joaquin Valley, California, United States. After Lake Cahuilla disappeared in the 17th century ...
bed. The lake has a capacity of . A project to raise the lake was completed in 2004. The lake now impounds an additional and downstream flood protection to downstream communities and agricultural land has been increased.
Because its primary purpose is flood control, Lake Kaweah is maintained at a very low level or empty for most of the year, and generally only fills between May and June. Due to the limited capacity of the reservoir, large spills of floodwater often occur after large rain storms. In the winter, water is released as quickly as possible to ensure room for floodwater which can then be released at a controlled rate. During floods in 1997, the reservoir filled and emptied twice because of this operational regimen.
At the upper end of Lake Kaweah is the small town of
Three Rivers, which sits at the entrance to
Sequoia National Park
Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief ...
.
See also
*
Lime Kiln Creek
*
List of dams and reservoirs in California
*
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 occupie ...
References
External links
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Lake Kaweah*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaweah
Reservoirs in Tulare County, California
Geography of the San Joaquin Valley
Populated places in the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Reservoirs in California
Reservoirs in Northern California