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Big Bear Lake
Dam, Big Bear California
Big Bear
Lake Facts
Length: 8 miles
Width: 1 mile
Shoreline: 23 miles
Elevation: 6740 feet (approx.)
Big Bear Lake, CA --
Creation date: Manmade lake created from dam built in 1884
Size: 73,000 acre feet - world's largest man-made lake in 1912 when
Eastwood Dam was built
Management: Big Bear Municipal Water District
1915
Rim of the World Highway to Big Bear Valley at Grout Bay completed
1924 California 38 to Fawnskin, Big Bear City - 18 to Big Bear Lake
constructed over the dam (seen in photo above with 2 white cars on
road)
Today the Big Bear Municipal Water District, an independent special
district of the State of California, is responsible for the overall
management of Big Bear Lake, Southern California's premier
recreational Lake. Big Bear did not always enjoy the recreational
lake that exists today, however. The lake was initially built to
provide water for the thirsty, growing population down the mountain
in San Bernardino County. Water sources in a desert region were
needed especially for huge orange groves that were the primary
agricultural crop of the region during the early 1900s.
Built
to create a reservoir for downstream irrigation uses in Redlands,
the first Bear Valley Dam was constructed in 1884 at a cost of
$75,000. It was the largest man-made body of water in the world at
the time. Engineers claimed that the single arch granite dam would
not hold but later reversed their proclamations, calling it "The
Eighth Wonder of the World". With a storage capacity of 25,000 acre
feet, the first effort was considered an initial success and impetus
for another dam that could hold even more water.
After
one failed attempt to finance and build a larger dam, Bear Valley
Mutual Water Company stepped in, hiring an engineer and successfully
building an arch dam 100 yards downstream from the Old Bear Valley
Dam. In 1912 the larger structure opened, costing $138,000 to build
and now lasting nearly 100 years. Its construction nearly tripled
the storage of the reservoir to 73,000 acre feet, creating the
world's largest man-made lake.
In
1924, a highway bridge was constructed over the top of the
buttresses. This road is now part of State Route 18. Spillway
improvements and repairs, seismic retrofit and other improvements
have been made to the dam and roads throughout the years.
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