Los Vaqueros Reservoir
| Los Vaqueros Reservoir | |
|---|---|
| Location |
Diablo Range, Contra Costa County, California |
| Coordinates | 37°49′13″N 121°44′02″W / 37.82025°N 121.7338°WCoordinates: 37°49′13″N 121°44′02″W / 37.82025°N 121.7338°W |
| Type | reservoir |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 2.5 mi (4.0 km) |
| Max. width | 2.5 mi (4.0 km) |
| Surface area | 1,400 acres (570 ha) |
| Average depth | 170 ft (52 m) |
| Max. depth | 170 ft (52 m) |
| Water volume | 160,000 acre·ft (0.20 km3) |
| Surface elevation | 524 ft (160 m) |
| Settlements | Brentwood, Livermore |
The Los Vaqueros Reservoir is located in the northern Diablo Range, within northeastern Contra Costa County, northern California.
It was completed by the Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) in 1998 to improve the quality of drinking water for its 550,000 customers in Central and Eastern Contra Costa County.
The reservoir is accessible via Vasco Road which connects Brentwood and Livermore. An expansion project begun in 2010 raised the height of the dam to increase storage capacity from 100,000 acre-ft to 160,000 acre-ft of water.
At the start of February 2017, the reservoir contained 133,700 acre feet (164,900,000 m3) of water.
Los Vaqueros Reservoir is named for the 19th century Mexican Rancho Cañada de los Vaqueros land grant that included its site. The Spanish word vaquero means "cowboy" in English.
Incursions of saline water into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta from the San Francisco Bay has been a concern since the 1870s. This concern was one of the reasons CCWD was formed in 1936. A drought in 1977, caused salinity levels to exceed public health standards. It forced CCWD to ration deliveries of fresh water to its customers.
In 1988, voters approved funding of the Los Vaqueros Reservoir project to begin design and construction. It was a massive project. In addition to building the $61 million, 192-foot-tall dam, the district had to:
In March, 2010, CCWD approved a capacity increase of 60,000 acre feet (74,000,000 m3). Costs will be passed on to those that receive water from the water District. Mitigation for the loss of sensitive wildlife habitat will be necessary. This increase is scheduled for completion in 2012. On July 14, 2012, the following portions of the expansion project were opened to the public:
The south end of the reservoir reopened in October 2012, after revamping the marina. The storage level reached 132,900 acre-feet in 2013, before the CCWD began drawing down the level to serve user needs during the recent drought. Heavy rains in the watershed since October 2016, increased the level to more than 133,700 acre feet (164,900,000 m3) at the end of January 2017, the all-time record for the reservoir.
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Wikipedia