Lake Elsman | |
---|---|
Location | Santa Clara County, California [1] |
Coordinates | 37°7′48″N 121°55′51″W / 37.13000°N 121.93083°W |
Type | Earth [1] |
Primary outflows | Los Gatos Creek [1] |
Catchment area | 9.8 square miles (25 km2) [1] |
Basin countries | United States |
Managing agency | San Jose Water Agency [1] |
Built | 1950[1] |
Surface area | 96 acres (39 ha) [1] |
Surface elevation | 1,119 feet (341 m) [3] [4] |
Lake Elsman is a 6,200-acre-foot (7,600,000 m3) [1] reservoir, created by an earthen dam called Austrian Dam [5] on Los Gatos Creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California. [2] At several points it is over 140' deep [6] and its normal surface area is 96 acres. [2] 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]
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]
Construction of the Austrian Dam was completed in 1950. [2] 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]