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Santa Margarita Lake

Lake in Santa Margarita Lake Recreation Area, Coast Ranges near Santa Margarita, CA

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Santa Margarita Lake, also called Salinas Reservoir, is a lake several miles southeast of the town of Santa Margarita in San Luis Obispo County, California. The lake was created by the building of Salinas Dam on the southern end of the Salinas River, very close to the river's origin in the Santa Lucia Range. The dam was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1941 to provide water for Camp San Luis Obispo. It now provides the city of San Luis Obispo with a portion of its drinking water. The city also uses water from Lake Nacimiento and water from Whale Rock Reservoir in Cayucos. The lake is relatively small, with a capacity of 23,843 acre feet (29,410,000 m3). Since it is a municipal water source, human contact is prohibited. Boating and fishing are popular activities on the…

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Lake