The City of San Diego has announced that today it has begun releasing water from El Capitan Reservoir in Lakeside, in anticipation of a potential spill due to Tropical Storm Hilary. Flowing water will be visible downstream from the dam in El Monte Valley and beyond. The notice is posted on the city’s webpage for El Capitan Reservoir.
“The shadows sway and seem to say/ ‘Tonight we pray for water, cool water’/ And way up there He’ll hear our prayer/ And show us where there’s water, cool, clear, water.” Sons of the Pioneers, singing Bob Nolan’s “Cool Water” in 1941.
Eighty-one years later, the “show us where there’s water” prayer remains.
Constructed four generations ago, the massive rock and clay dam at El Capitan Reservoir is capable of storing over 36 billion gallons of water, enough to supply every resident in San Diego for most of a year.
Today, it’s three-quarters empty, intentionally kept low because of concerns it could fail under the strain of too much water.
During “a big earthquake, you never know what’s going to happen, if this is going to hold,” said Samuel Santos, a longtime resident who frequently fishes near the dam.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
