List of largest reservoirs of California

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This is a list of the largest reservoirs, or man-made lakes, in the U.S. state of California. All fifty-three reservoirs that contain over 100,000 acre-feet (0.12 km3) of water at maximum capacity are listed. This includes those formed by raising the level of natural lakes, such as at Lake Tahoe. Most large reservoirs in California are owned by the federal Bureau of Reclamation and to a lesser extent the Army Corps of Engineers, many serving the Central Valley Project or State Water Project. Smaller ones are often run by county water agencies or irrigation and flood control districts.

Map of California's interconnected water system, including all eleven reservoirs over 1,000,000 acre-feet (1.2 km3) as well as selected smaller ones.

The state has more than one thousand major reservoirs, of which the largest two hundred have a combined capacity of over 41,000,000 acre-feet (51 km3).[1] Most large reservoirs in California are located in the central and northern portions of the state, especially along the large and flood-prone rivers of the Central Valley. Eleven reservoirs have a storage capacity greater than or equal to 1,000,000 acre-feet (1.2 km3); all of these except one are in or on drainages that feed into the Central Valley. The largest single reservoir in California is Shasta Lake, with a full volume of more than 4,552,000 acre-feet (5.615 km3).

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† denotes reservoir not entirely in California
‡ denotes reservoir that is offstream or receives most of its water from a source not associated with its feeder stream(s).
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More information Name, County(s) ...
Name County(s) Coordinates Volume[n 1] (acre-feet) Volume (km3) Outflow[2][n 2] Dam[n 3] Image
Shasta Lake Shasta 40°45′15″N 122°21′13″W[3] 4,552,000[4] 5.615 Sacramento River Shasta Dam
Lake Oroville Butte 39°32′14″N 121°29′00″W[5] 3,537,577[6] 4.364 Feather River Oroville Dam
Trinity Lake Trinity 40°51′36″N 122°43′24″W[7] 2,448,000[8] 3.020 Trinity River Trinity Dam
New Melones Lake Tuolumne,
Calaveras		 38°00′02″N 120°31′12″W[9] 2,400,000[10] 2.960 Stanislaus River New Melones Dam
San Luis Reservoir Merced 37°04′04″N 121°07′52″W[11] 2,041,000[12] 2.518 San Luis Creek‡[n 4] San Luis Dam
Don Pedro Reservoir Tuolumne 37°44′30″N 120°22′25″W[13] 2,030,000[14] 2.504 Tuolumne River New Don Pedro Dam
Lake Berryessa Napa 38°31′53″N 122°09′49″W[15] 1,602,000[16] 1.976 Putah Creek Monticello Dam
Lake Almanor Plumas 40°13′47″N 121°09′29″W[17] 1,308,000[18] 1.613 North Feather River Canyon Dam
Folsom Lake Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer 38°43′26″N 121°07′03″W[19] 1,120,200[20] 1.382 American River Folsom Dam
Lake McClure Mariposa 37°38′11″N 120°16′49″W[21] 1,024,600[22] 1.264 Merced River New Exchequer Dam
Pine Flat Lake Fresno 36°49′57″N 119°19′33″W[23] 1,000,000[24] 1.233 Kings River Pine Flat Dam
New Bullards Bar Reservoir Yuba 39°23′32″N 121°08′30″W[25] 996,103[26] 1.229 North Yuba River New Bullards Bar Dam
Diamond Valley Lake Riverside 33°40′42″N 117°02′30″W[27] 810,000[28] 0.999 Domenigoni Creek‡[n 5] West Dam
Lake Tahoe[n 6] Placer, El Dorado, Douglas (NV)†, Washoe (NV)† 39°04′59″N 120°02′03″W[29] 732,000[30] 0.903 Truckee River Lake Tahoe Dam
Lake Havasu San Bernardino, Mohave (AZ)†, La Paz (AZ)† 34°23′00″N 114°14′33″W[31] 646,200[32] 0.797 Colorado River Parker Dam
Lake Isabella Kern 35°38′47″N 118°28′56″W[33] 568,000[34] 0.701 Kern River Isabella Dam
Clear Lake Reservoir Modoc 41°50′59″N 121°10′14″W[35] 527,000[36] 0.650 Lost River Clear Lake Dam
Millerton Lake Fresno, Madera 36°59′51″N 119°41′36″W[37] 520,500[38] 0.642 San Joaquin River Friant Dam
Camanche Reservoir San Joaquin, Amador, Calaveras 38°13′26″N 120°58′04″W[39] 431,000[40] 0.532 Mokelumne River Camanche Dam
Lake Sonoma Sonoma 38°43′05″N 123°00′34″W[41] 381,000[42] 0.470 Dry Creek Warm Springs Dam
Lake Nacimiento San Luis Obispo 35°44′40″N 120°54′14″W[43] 378,480[44] 0.467 Nacimiento River Nacimiento Dam
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir Tuolumne 37°56′21″N 119°43′32″W[45] 360,000[46] 0.444 Tuolumne River O'Shaughnessy Dam
Lake San Antonio Monterey 35°52′13″N 121°00′19″W[47] 335,000[48] 0.413 San Antonio River San Antonio Dam
Castaic Lake Los Angeles 34°31′12″N 118°36′23″W[49] 323,700[50] 0.399 Castaic Creek‡[n 7] Castaic Dam
New Hogan Lake Calaveras 38°09′03″N 120°48′47″W[51] 317,000[52] 0.391 Calaveras River New Hogan Dam
Prado Flood Control Basin[n 8] Riverside 33°54′33″N 117°37′07″W[53] 314,400[18] 0.389 Santa Ana River Prado Dam
Clear Lake[n 9] Lake 39°03′42″N 122°49′38″W[54] 313,000[55] 0.386 Cache Creek Cache Creek Dam
Indian Valley Reservoir Lake 39°07′31″N 122°32′34″W[56] 300,600[57] 0.371 North Fork Cache Creek Indian Valley Dam
Cherry Lake Tuolumne 38°00′20″N 119°54′25″W[58] 274,300[59] 0.338 Cherry Creek Cherry Valley Dam
Lake Casitas Ventura 34°23′09″N 119°20′08″W[60] 254,000[61] 0.313 Coyote Creek‡[n 10] Casitas Dam
San Vicente Reservoir San Diego 32°55′51″N 116°54′22″W[62] 242,000[63] 0.298 San Vicente Creek‡[n 11] San Vicente Dam
Whiskeytown Lake Shasta 40°37′41″N 122°33′51″W[64] 241,100[4] 0.297 Clear Creek‡[n 12] Whiskeytown Dam
Union Valley Reservoir El Dorado 38°52′35″N 120°24′00″W[65] 230,000[18] 0.284 Silver Creek‡[n 13] Union Valley Dam
Stampede Reservoir Sierra 39°28′38″N 120°08′26″W[66] 226,500[67] 0.279 Little Truckee River Stampede Dam
Twitchell Reservoir Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo 35°00′44″N 120°18′25″W[68] 224,300[69] 0.277 Cuyama River Twitchell Dam
Pardee Reservoir Amador, Calaveras 38°15′27″N 120°51′01″W[70] 209,950[71] 0.259 Mokelumne River Pardee Dam
Hell Hole Reservoir Placer 39°03′33″N 120°24′35″W[72] 208,400[73] 0.257 Rubicon River Hell Hole Dam
Lake Cachuma Santa Barbara 34°35′12″N 119°58′52″W[74] 205,000[75] 0.253 Santa Ynez River Bradbury Dam
New Spicer Meadow Reservoir Alpine,
Tuolumne		 38°24′26″N 119°57′46″W[76] 190,000[77] 0.234 Highland Creek New Spicer Meadow Dam
Lake Kaweah Tulare 36°24′19″N 118°58′22″W[78] 185,600[79] 0.229 Kaweah River Terminus Dam
Los Vaqueros Reservoir Contra Costa 37°49′09″N 121°44′04″W 160,000[80] 0.197 Kellogg Creek Los Vaqueros Dam
Black Butte Lake Glenn,
Tehama		 39°47′28″N 122°21′51″W[81] 143,700[82] 0.177 Stony Creek Black Butte Dam
Salt Springs Reservoir Amador,
Calaveras		 38°29′50″N 120°10′56″W[83] 141,900[84] 0.175 Mokelumne River Salt Springs Dam
French Meadows Reservoir Placer 39°06′53″N 120°26′23″W[85] 136,400[86] 0.168 Middle Fork American River L.L. Anderson Dam
Shaver Lake Fresno 37°07′33″N 119°17′26″W[87] 135,283[88] 0.167 Stevenson Creek Shaver Lake Dam
Lake Perris Riverside 33°51′21″N 117°10′36″W[89] 131,452[90] 0.162 N/A Perris Dam
Lake Thomas A. Edison Fresno 37°22′58″N 118°58′34″W[91] 125,000[92] 0.154 Mono Creek Vermilion Valley Dam
Courtright Reservoir Fresno 37°06′10″N 118°58′32″W[93] 123,300[94] 0.152 Helms Creek Courtright Dam
Mammoth Pool Reservoir Fresno 37°19′50″N 119°19′15″W[95] 123,000[96] 0.152 San Joaquin River Mammoth Pool Dam
Lake Mendocino Mendocino 39°12′56″N 123°10′24″W[97] 122,400[98] 0.151 Russian River Coyote Valley Dam
Wishon Reservoir Fresno 37°01′04″N 118°57′47″W[99] 118,000[100] 0.146 North Fork Kings River Wishon Dam
Camp Far West Reservoir Yuba 39°01′54″N 121°17′12″W[101] 104,500[102] 0.129 Bear River Camp Far West Dam
Bucks Lake Plumas 39°52′56″N 121°09′52″W[103] 103,000[104] 0.127 Bucks Creek Bucks Storage Dam
Calaveras Reservoir Alameda,
Santa Clara		 37°28′29″N 121°49′10″W[105] 100,000[106] 0.123 Calaveras Creek Calaveras Dam
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See also

Notes

  1. [1]
    Volume given is the maximum flood pool, not the operational or live storage capacity.
  2. [2]
    Not always applicable to off-stream reservoirs.
  3. [3]
    In the case of reservoirs with more than one main dam holding it back (e.g. Diamond Valley Lake), the name of the highest one will be given (in this case, the West Dam).
  4. [4]
    San Luis Reservoir receives most of its water from the California Aqueduct.
  5. [5]
    Diamond Valley Lake is the terminus of the Inland Feeder, part of the California State Water Project, and is also fed by the San Diego Aqueduct.
  6. [6]
    This lake is natural, but was raised about 10 feet (3.0 m) by Lake Tahoe Dam, built in 1913.
  7. [7]
    Castaic Lake receives most of its water from the West Branch California Aqueduct.
  8. [8]
    The reservoir behind Prado Dam is usually empty or close to empty because its primary purpose is flood control. Typical wet season storage is only about 20,000 to 45,000 acre-feet (0.025 to 0.056 km3).
  9. [9]
    Clear Lake is a natural lake raised by Cache Creek Dam.
  10. [10]
    Lake Casitas is fed by Coyote Creek and water diverted from the Ventura River, which Coyote Creek later flows into.
  11. [11]
    Most water supplied from the First San Diego Aqueduct.
  12. [12]
    Clear Creek provides a significant portion of the reservoir inflow, but more water enters via the Clear Creek Tunnel, which diverts water from the Trinity River.
  13. [13]
    Most of the water supplying the reservoir is diverted from the Middle Fork American River through penstocks for power generation.

References

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