| Lower Otay Reservoir | |
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  Lower Otay Reservoir  Lower Otay Reservoir  Lower Otay Reservoir | |
| Location | San Diego County, California |
| Coordinates | 32°38′14″N116°55′30″W / 32.6372°N 116.9249°W /32.6372; -116.9249 |
| Type | Reservoir |
| Part of | Otay and Proctor Valleys[1] |
| Primary inflows | Otay River San Diego Aqueduct |
| Primary outflows | Otay River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Managing agency | City of San Diego |
| Surface area | 1,100 acres (450 ha)[2] |
| Average depth | 124 ft (38 m) (August 2009)[3] |
| Max. depth | 137.5 ft (41.9 m)[2] |
| Water volume | 49,500 acre⋅ft (61.1×10 |
| Shore length1 | 25 mi (40 km)[2] |
| Surface elevation | 381 ft (116 m) |
| Website | www |
| References | U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lower Otay Reservoir |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of Lower Otay Reservoir | |
| 1 Shore length isnot a well-defined measure. | |
Lower Otay Reservoir is areservoir inSan Diego County, California. It is flanked byOtay Mountain to the southeast, theJamul Mountains to the east, Otay Lakes Road and Upper Otay Reservoir to the north, and the city ofChula Vista to the west.
The reservoir is formed by impounding the waters of theOtay River, behindSavage Dam, completed in 1918, and is also the terminus for the secondSan Diego Aqueduct,[4] which transports imported water from theColorado River.[5] The dam and reservoir are owned by the City ofSan Diego.
The area where the Reservoir is located was part ofRancho Janal, and was purchased byE. S. Babcock.[6] Lower Otay Reservoir was originally created in 1897 after the construction of Lower Otay Dam by the Southern California Mountain Water Company.[7] The original dam was a rock fill type of 125 feet (38 m) high.[8] In 1900,John D. Spreckels purchased the land around the reservoir, and the reservoir was later acquired by a company owned by Spreckels.[9] At the lake was a hunting lodge that was utilized by guests ofHotel del Coronado.[6][10]
The original dam gave way in January 1916 following heavy rains which affected most ofSouthern California flooding the Otay Valley with a wall of water ranging from 20 to 100 feet (6.1 to 30.5 m) in height during the event, killing more than 14 people.[8] The flood swept away entire farms and buildings, including the Montgomery residence at Fruitland near the mouth of the river, whereJohn J. Montgomery had built his initial series of manned glider designs.[11] The rains were ostensibly the work of the "rainmaker"Charles Hatfield, who had been hired by the City of San Diego to assist in increasing rainfall to fill nearbyMorena Reservoir. He was never charged with any crimes. Following this the presentArch-gravity dam was built.[8]In 1934, the dam was named in honor of Hiram Newton Savage, the city engineer who supervised its construction..[12]
In 1936,Stephen Birch purchased the land around the reservoir, which had beenRancho Otay. His daughter Mary inherited the land and, marrying a formerRoyal Air Force commander, moved into the former hunting lodge on Upper Otay Lake, Rancho del Otay.[7]
In February 2009, a bass fisherman spotted aCurtiss SB2C Helldiver plane in the lake. On May 28, 1945, it had been on a practice bombing run from a nearby aircraft carrier when a stalled engine forced an emergency landing in the reservoir.[13] Divers examined the plane on July 23, 2009, to see if it could be salvaged for museum display, and it was raised on August 20, 2010.[14]
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