Lopez Lake
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Lopez Lake is a lake near the city of Arroyo Grande in San Luis Obispo County, California. The lake is formed by Lopez Dam on Arroyo Grande Creek, 9 miles upstream from the Pacific Ocean. The creek drains about 60 square miles above the dam and 90 square miles below. The dam was built in 1969 and is operated by the San Luis Obispo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District. The earth-fill dam was retrofitted to protect against earthquakes between 2001 and 2003. The lake has a capacity of 49,200 acre-feet.
The lake's purpose is to provide drinking water for Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Pismo Beach, Oceano and Avila Beach. It also provides groundwater recharge, water for irrigation and flood control. Unlike most municipal water supplies, human contact with the water is permitted. Sailing, water skiing, swimming, fishing and camping are popular activities. There is also a waterslide next to the lake. To prevent contamination of the drinking water, water from the lake is piped three miles to a terminal reservoir, where it remains to allow particles to settle out and pathogens to die off. The water then goes through flocculation, filtration and chlorination at the Lopez Water Treatment Plant.
