Lake Elsman

Lake Elsman is a 6,200-acre-foot (7,600,000 m3)[2] reservoir, created by an earthen dam called Austrian Dam[5] on Los Gatos Creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California.[1] At several points it is over 140' deep[6] and its normal surface area is 96 acres.[1] It provides 12% of San Jose Water Works’ total water capacity in some years.[6] The lake and dam is owned by the San Jose Water Company,[6]

Lake Elsman
Lake Elsman
Lake Elsman
LocationSanta Clara County, California[2]
Coordinates37°7′48″N 121°55′51″W
TypeEarth[2]
Primary outflowsLos Gatos Creek[2]
Catchment area9.8 square miles (25 km2)[2]
Basin countriesUnited States
Managing agencySan Jose Water Agency[2]
Built1950 (1950)[2]
Surface area96 acres (39 ha)[2]
Surface elevation1,119 feet (341 m)[3][4]

In 1988 and 1989, two earthquakes at M=5.3 and 5.4 respectively occurred at Lake Elsman that transferred stress that led to the 1989 M=6.9 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.[7]

Austrian Dam

Construction of the Austrian Dam was completed in 1950.[1] Beneath the reservoir are the remains of the settlements of Austrian Gulch and Germantown.[8] The dam is more than 900 feet (270 m) long and 180 feet (55 m) high.[6] The dam was damaged in the Loma Prieta quake.[9] The performance of Austrian Dam during that earthquake reinforces concerns about damage to the tops of earth dams by earthquakes.[9]

See also

References
  1. "Lake Elsman". Find Lakes. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  2. "Dams Within the Jurisdiction of the State of California (A-G)" (PDF). California Department of Water Resources. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  3. "Lake Elsman". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  4. "Lake Elsman - Santa Clara County, CA". Trails.com. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
  5. "Austrian Dam". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  6. Wiley, Neil. "Lake Elsman". Mountain Network News. Mountain Network News. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  7. Perfettini, Hugo; Stein, Ross S.; Simpson, Robert; Cocco, Massimo (September 10, 1999). "Stress transfer by the 1988-1989 M=5.3 and 5.4 Lake Elsman foreshocks to the Loma Prieta fault' Unclamping at the site of peak mainshock slip" (PDF). Journal of Geophysical Research. 104 (B9): 20, 169–20, 182. doi:10.1029/1999jb900092. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  8. John V. Young (2002). Ghost Towns of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Great West Books. ISBN 9780944220122. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
  9. Riverside County Integrated Project (PDF). Riverside County Integrated Project. 2000. pp. Appendix H, 3–41.


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