Lake Nacimiento

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Lake Nacimiento
An arm of the "Dragon Lake"
Location	San Luis Obispo County, California
Lake type	reservoir
Primary inflows	Nacimiento River
Primary outflows	Nacimiento River
Basin countries	United States
Max. length	18 mi (29 km)

For the census-designated place, see Lake Nacimiento, California.

Lake Nacimiento is an 18 mile long lake on the Nacimiento River in northern San Luis Obispo County, California. The lake contains many arms including Snake Creek and Dip Creek, nearer the dam, and the central Las Tablas and Franklin Creeks. Because of these arms, it is sometimes referred to as Dragon Lake. The lake can fill quickly in the winter from river surges resulting from downpours upstream in the Santa Lucia range so the level is not usually allowed to capacity until May 1 of each year.

Lake Nacimiento is an excellent fishery, and is unique among California reserviors in that it contains, among other species, introduced white bass, which thrive in the lake and spawn in the river and inflowing creeks in Spring. Lake Nacimiento can produce power from a turbine at the base of the dam.

The lake was originally designed for irrigation water and flood control as well as recreation. Nacimiento Dam, a 210-foot (64 m) earthfill dam, forms the lake. The dam was built by the Monterey County Water Authority, which completed construction in 1961. The water authority uses the lake to recharge its groundwater. Lake Nacimiento has a capacity of 377,000 acre feet (465,000,000 m³). The lake is near the town of Lake Nacimiento.