Lower Castaic Lake May Ban Swimming

The lower lake at Castaic, used by nearly 200,000 carloads of bathers every year, may have to be closed for swimming this summer because the drought is lowering the water level, county officials said Thursday.

Boating on the larger, upper lake was restricted this week and could be cut even more during the dry summer months, said Brian Roney, assistant superintendent of parks for the Castaic Recreation Area.

Reduced public access to the lakes also reduces county revenues. Roney said fees charged for parking and boat launching raise about $1.2 million a year, which is used largely for maintenance and operation of the park.

The hill-ringed lakes are also among the most popular destinations for Los Angeles residents craving a place to cool off in warm weather.

“A lot of people are surprised, shocked” by the restrictions, Roney said.

He said the county’s only remaining hope of keeping the lakes fully operational through the high season is additional water from the State Water Project, which controls the flow into the area because the larger lake doubles as a reservoir.

State water authorities, while cautioning that a final decision is pending, said recreation needs will probably not be met this summer. The lower lake, which the state calls a lagoon, is particularly unlikely to receive water because it is not connected to a usable water source.

“We don’t really deliver water to lakes specifically for recreation. Water just passes through and recreation benefits,” said Larry Gage, chief of schedules and analysis for the State Water Project.

“For the lagoon, we would have to deliver water that could not then be used.”

Castaic’s lower lake level, only 60 feet deep to begin with, has already dropped about 12 feet, Roney said. As the water disappears, beaches are left farther from the water and rocks and other hazards are revealed.

If the lake is ultimately closed to swimmers, it would be the first drought-triggered closure since the man-made lake was opened in 1971. In the 1977 drought, the lake only dropped by five feet, Roney said.

The lower lake was closed to swimmers several times last summer, including over the Labor Day weekend, but that was because of a bacteria problem caused by too many bathers.

The upper lake at Castaic doubles as a reservoir, supplying water to the Metropolitan Water District and Southern California water agencies. It has dropped a dramatic 117 feet, but Roney said it is less seriously affected because it is much larger to begin with, reaching a 250-foot depth in some areas.

The decline in the upper lake prompted the county to close one of two boat-launching ramps Wednesday, which Roney described as “high and dry.” Starting this weekend, only 350 boats will be allowed instead of the usual 500 and only 50 jet skis instead of 75.

Three months ago, large boats were banned from the lower lake, restricting it to boats light enough to be launched by hand, such as canoes and small rowboats. Windsurfing has been limited to the lower lake because competition with boats for space on the shrinking upper lake created a dangerous situation.