Huntington Lake

This article is about the reservoir in eastern California. For the unincorporated community, see Huntington Lake, California. For the reservoir in central Utah, see Huntington North Dam.
Huntington Lake
Location Fresno County, California
Coordinates 37°14′9.96″N 119°10′44.4″W / 37.2361000°N 119.179000°W / 37.2361000; -119.179000Coordinates: 37°14′9.96″N 119°10′44.4″W / 37.2361000°N 119.179000°W / 37.2361000; -119.179000
Type Reservoir
Primary inflows Big Creek
Primary outflows Big Creek
Basin countries United States
Surface area 1,441 acres (583 ha)
Surface elevation 2,120 m (6,955 ft)[1]

Huntington Lake is a reservoir in Fresno County, California on Big Creek, located in the Sierra Nevada at an elevation of 2,120 meters (6955 ft). Several smaller streams also flow into the lake and it receives additional water from the underground tunnels of Southern California Edison's Big Creek hydroelectric project. Water from the lake flows into Big Creek, but some is diverted by underground tunnels to the Eastwood Powerhouse, which discharges into Shaver Lake.

History

Huntington Lake was constructed in 1912 as a part of the enormous Big Creek Hydroelectric Project envisioned by John S. Eastwood to provide power for a growing California. The lake was named for Henry Edwards Huntington, the railroad magnate who financed the earliest work to develop the Big Creek project which includes a system of lakes, tunnels, steel penstocks and power houses.

Four dams form the lake, which has a capacity of 88,834 acre feet (109,575 dam3) and a surface area of 1,441 acres (583 ha). There were originally three dams, completed in 1913, but a fourth dam, completed in 1919, was built to increase the lake's capacity. The other three dams were raised and covered with concrete. State Route 168 passes along the east shore of the lake where China Peak, a ski resort, is located.

On December 6, 1943, a B-24 bomber with six men aboard crashed into Huntington Lake.[2] The crew had taken off from nearby Hammer Field in Fresno, California to search for a second B-24 which had disappeared a day earlier during a night training flight. Two members of the original eight man crew, a radio operator and the co-pilot, bailed out of the troubled plane and survived. Some have speculated that the pilot may have mistaken the lake for a sierra meadow and tried to make an emergency landing during a snow storm. The wreckage of the plane, and the remains of its crew were discovered by a survey team in August 1955, when the lake had been drained for dam repairs.[2] The original B-24 they had been searching for was discovered in July 1960 in Hester Lake, a small body of water in a remote area not far from Huntington. Neither plane has been recovered.

Impact of the 2012–15 North American drought

Water levels in the lake began falling during the 2012–15 North American drought.[3] By July, 2014, the lake was at a third of its normal level, and the High Sierra Regatta was canceled for the first time in 60 years.[4]

Sailing

Huntington Lake High Sierra Regatta

Huntington Lake is the site of the High Sierra Regatta, an annual sailing event organized by the Fresno Yacht Club.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Huntington Lake". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  2. 1 2 Zamora, Eric Paul. "World War II B-24 bomber crash at Huntington Lake marks 70 years". The Fresno Bee. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  3. ↑ The High Sierra forest is dying, and you can't count the loss in dead trees - LA Times
  4. ↑ Marcum, Diana (July 11, 2014). "Huntington Lake summer fun drying up in California drought". Los Angeles Times. The High Sierra Regatta — which had been scheduled to begin this weekend at Huntington Lake — was canceled for the first time in 60 years.
  5. ↑ "2013 High Sierra Regatta". Fresno Yacht Club. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
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