Santa Margarita Lake, lake in California, USA

Santa Margarita Lake, also called Salinas Reservoir, lies several miles southeast of the town of Santa Margarita in San Luis Obispo County. The Salinas Dam, built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1941 at the southern end of the Salinas River near its origin in the Santa Lucia Range, holds back the water. The lake has a capacity of 23,843 acre-feet and supplies part of San Luis Obispo's drinking water.

The lake was created in 1941 with the construction of the Salinas Dam to store water for a nearby military camp. Since then, it has developed into a major water supply facility for the region.

The lake is also called Salinas Reservoir, after the Salinas River, whose dam sits near the river's origin in the Santa Lucia Range. It is home to the San Luis Obispo Rowing Club and Cal Poly Rowing, whose crews train on the water. Anglers come for largemouth bass, catfish, carp and sunfish.

The lake lies a few miles southeast of Santa Margarita, reached by a dirt road off Route 58. Dirt roads run around almost the entire perimeter, with a 15 mph speed limit because the surface is bumpy and dusty; many visitors pull over to fish. On the water the default limit is 5 mph, rising to 30 mph in certain areas depending on conditions.

The lake holds 23,843 acre-feet of water, and a proposal would raise Salinas Dam by 19 feet using a spillway gate included in the original design. That would flood 1,639 coast live oaks, 633 blue oaks, 198 valley oaks and 469 gray pines, a concern because local oaks already face sudden oak death.