Lake Isabella also called Isabella 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 contro ...

Kern County, California Kern County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield. Kern County comprise ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

created by the earthen

Isabella Dam Isabella Dam is an embankment dam located in the Kern River Valley, about halfway down the Kern River course, between the towns of Kernville and Lake Isabella in Kern County, California. Isabella Dam serves agricultural, hydroelectric, and fl ...

. It was formed in 1953 when the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

dammed the

Kern River The Kern River, previously Rio de San Felipe, later La Porciuncula, is an Endangered, Wild and Scenic river in the U.S. state of California, approximately long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfiel ...

at the junction of its two forks. At , it is one of the larger reservoirs in California. The area is in the southern end of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

range and the lake itself is located in low mountains at an elevation of approximately where summer temperatures reach over but low enough to avoid winter snows on the surrounding ridges. Lake Isabella is located about northeast of

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

, and is the main water supply for that city. Lake Isabella can be reached by car from Bakersfield via state Highway 178 and from

Delano Delano or DeLano may refer to: Places in the United States * Delano, California * Delano, Wichita, Kansas, a neighborhood in Wichita and former community before merging with Wichita * Delano, Minnesota * Delano, Nevada * Delano, Pennsylvania * De ...

via Highway 155. The former towns of

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpor ...

and Kernville were flooded by the newly created reservoir.

Isabella Dam deficiency

In 2006,

was found to be too unstable to hold a full amount of water and approximately 40% of a full reservoir had to be let out to restabilize the earth works. Presently, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers won't let the water get above 60% of capacity until an estimated 10–15 years of studies and repairs are made. The project is expected to be completed sometime in 2023. To further add to this problem, the Isabella Dam bisects an

active fault An active fault is a fault that is likely to become the source of another earthquake sometime in the future. Geologists commonly consider faults to be active if there has been movement observed or evidence of seismic activity during the last 10,0 ...

that could lead to a catastrophic failure if an earthquake occurs along it. This fault was considered inactive when the site was studied in the late 1940s.

Recreation

The dam is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and several recreation areas are located around the lake as a part of the

Sequoia National Forest Sequoia National Forest is located in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. The U.S. National Forest is named for the majestic Giant Sequoia (''Sequoiadendron giganteum'') trees which populate 38 distinct groves within the boundar ...

. The nearby towns of

Lake Isabella Lake Isabella also called Isabella Lake, is a reservoir in Kern County, California, United States created by the earthen Isabella Dam. It was formed in 1953 when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Kern River at the junction of its two f ...

and Kernville receive economic benefit from tourism created by the Lake Isabella Recreation Area and the

whitewater rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

attraction of the Upper and Lower Kern River.

External links

Corps of Engineers Water Releases and Lake Level InformationLake Isabella Recreation - Sequoia National Forest

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Isabella Reservoirs in Kern County, California

Lakes of the Sierra Nevada (United States)

Reservoirs in California Reservoirs in Southern California

Isabella Dam deficiency

Recreation

See also

External links

References

External links