South County Report: What’s in the Water

Sweetwater Dam rises 200 feet from the floor of a rocky river gorge a few miles northeast of Bonita. The 136-year-old concrete and masonry dam holds back 28,000 acre-feet of water in Sweetwater Reservoir, a major source of drinking water in South San Diego County.

The dam, and the reservoir, have been quiet fixtures of the Bonita and Spring Valley landscape for generations. These days, they’re drawing an unaccustomed amount of attention.