San Pablo Reservoir
| San Pablo Reservoir | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | Contra Costa County, California |
| Coordinates | 37°56′36″N 122°15′42″W / 37.94333°N 122.26167°WCoordinates: 37°56′36″N 122°15′42″W / 37.94333°N 122.26167°W |
| Type | reservoir |
| Primary inflows | San Pablo Creek |
| Primary outflows | San Pablo Creek |
| Catchment area | 23.37 sq mi (60.5 km2) |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface elevation | 305 ft (93 m) |
The San Pablo Reservoir is an open cut terminal water storage reservoir owned and operated by the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD). It is located in the valley of San Pablo Creek, north of Orinda, California and south of El Sobrante and Richmond, east of the Berkeley Hills between San Pablo Ridge and Sobrante Ridge.
The earthen San Pablo Dam, built in 1919, is located at the El Sobrante end of the reservoir, above Kennedy Grove. The reservoir has a total capacity of 38,600 acre feet (47,600,000 m3), and a watershed of 23.37 square miles (60.5 square kilometres). A water tunnel runs under the hills to the west from the reservoir to a pumping plant in Kensington. The San Pablo Dam Road runs along the west side of the reservoir. EBMUD's Briones Reservoir is in the hills southeast of the San Pablo Reservoir and drains into the reservoir.
Although the dam impounds the waters of San Pablo Creek, the great bulk of its water is imported via the Mokelumne Aqueduct from Pardee Reservoir located over a hundred miles to the east in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
EBMUD owns and maintains the San Pablo Reservoir Recreation Area, which consists of boating and fishing access to the reservoir itself, and some watershed land on the west side of the reservoir. EBMUD charges $7 for daily entrance into the park. The recreation area is managed under contract by Urban Parks Concessionaires (UPC) and includes a restaurant (The San Pablo Grill) and gift shop, where fishing permits can be purchased and boats can be rented. There are picnic areas available, a children’s play area and a boat launch ramp.
Because this reservoir is a storage facility for drinking water, swimming and wading are prohibited. Fishing, boating, and canoeing are allowed. However, to reduce the possibility of gasoline components in the reservoir, only four-cycle engines using MTBE-free gasoline are allowed.
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Wikipedia