Puddingstone Reservoir, reservoir in California

Puddingstone Reservoir is a water storage lake in California surrounded by rolling hills and natural vegetation. The body of water supplies irrigation and drinking water to nearby communities while offering opportunities for fishing and water recreation.

The Los Angeles County Flood Control District bought land in 1923 to hold back floodwaters from 30.3 square miles, and Puddingstone Dam was built between February 1925 and January 1928 at a cost of one million dollars. The dam created a 250-acre lake that also replenished underground water and irrigated local citrus groves. A road was built across the dam top in 1932, and in 1959 the county parks department took over the area.

The reservoir lies inside Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park, next to Brackett Field, Raging Waters and the Fairplex. The road across the dam, now Raging Waters Drive, runs from the park entrance on the south to Puddingstone Drive on the north. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment advises against eating fish caught here because of elevated mercury and PCB levels.

The reservoir lies beside Mud Springs, north of the dam, where water in the semiarid hills drew Indians, explorers, soldiers and stagecoach drivers before citrus orchards appeared. An adobe built at the reservoir's north edge in 1882 still marks that early period.