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]
Austrian Dam
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]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Dams Within the Jurisdiction of the State of California (A-G)" (PDF). California Department of Water Resources. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
- ^ a b c d "Lake Elsman". Find Lakes. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
- ^ "Lake Elsman". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ "Lake Elsman - Santa Clara County, CA". Trails.com. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
- ^ "Austrian Dam". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ a b c d Wiley, Neil. "Lake Elsman". Mountain Network News. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
- ^ Perfettini, Hugo; Stein, Ross S.; Simpson, Robert; Cocco, Massimo (September 10, 1999). "Stress transfer by the 1988-1989 M=5.3 and 5.4 Lake Elsman foreshocks to the Loma Prieta fault' Unclamping at the site of peak mainshock slip" (PDF). Journal of Geophysical Research. 104 (B9): 20, 169–20, 182. Bibcode:1999JGR...10420169P. doi:10.1029/1999jb900092. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
- ^ John V. Young (2002). Ghost Towns of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Great West Books. ISBN 9780944220122. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
- ^ a b Riverside County Integrated Project (PDF). Riverside County Integrated Project. 2000. pp. Appendix H, 3–41.
