Santa Margarita Lake

The Salinas Dam is a dam built on the Salinas River in San Luis Obispo County, California. Designed by Raymond A. Hill, the gravity dam features an arched design with an open spillway. The War Department began construction on the dam in mid-1941, as World War II began to reach the Pacific. The original intent of the dam was to supply water to Camp San Luis Obispo, which the Army was considering expanding to meet military needs. However, the camp’s wells ultimately provided sufficient water to the camp, and the reservoir water was never required or used by the military. Today, the dam operations are leased by the city of San Luis Obispo, to supply water to the city and surrounding agricultural areas. The reservoir created by the dam is known as the Santa Margarita Lake, or Santa Margarita Reservoir.

San Luis Obispo County ( ), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo.Junípero Serra founded the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa in 1772, and San Luis Obispo grew around it. The small size of the county's communities, scattered along the beaches, coastal hills, and mountains of the Santa Lucia range, provides a wide variety of coastal and inland hill ecologies to support fishing, agriculture, and tourist activities. California Polytechnic State University has almost 20,000 students. Tourism, especially for the wineries, is popular. Grapes and other agriculture products are an important part of the economy. San Luis Obispo County is the third largest producer of wine in California, surpassed only by Sonoma and Napa counties. Strawberries are the largest agricultural crop in the county.The town of San Simeon is located at the foot of the ridge where newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst built Hearst Castle. Other coastal towns (listed from north to south) include Cambria, Cayucos, Morro Bay, and Los Osos -Baywood Park. These cities and villages are located northwest of the city of San Luis Obispo. To the south are Avila Beach and the Five Cities region. The Five Cities originally were: Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach (then known as Grover City), Oceano, Fair Oaks and Halcyon. Today, the Five Cities region consists of Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, Arroyo Grande, Oceano, and Halcyon (basically the area from Pismo Beach to Oceano). Just south of the Five Cities, San Luis Obispo County borders northern Santa Barbara County. Inland, the cities of Paso Robles, Templeton, and Atascadero lie along the Salinas River, near the Paso Robles wine region. San Luis Obispo lies south of Atascadero and north of the Five Cities region.

Pozo (Spanish for "Well") is an unincorporated community along the former Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach route, in San Luis Obispo County, California. The closest communities appearing on road maps are California Valley and Santa Margarita. A USGS-provided set of coordinates for the town are on the Santa Margarita Lake 7.5-minute quadrangle.Pozo was named by George Washington Lingo, Esq., "a well known citizen" who proposed the name for the post office because the village is in a holelike valley—pozo means "well" or "hole" in Spanish.Pozo is home to the still thriving Pozo Saloon, established in 1858. During its early years, the Pozo Saloon was the primary watering hole for weary travelers making their way over Pozo Summit. Today it is a well-known live music venue, hosting internationally-known acts including Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and G Love and Special Sauce.The ZIP Code is 93453. The community is inside area code 805.

The Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) is a California 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, incorporated in 1982, which owns all the copyrights of the estate of L. Ron Hubbard and licenses their use. CST does business as L. Ron Hubbard Library. The Church of Spiritual Technology points to Hubbard as the “focal point,” with the structure designed to realize what Scientologists understand to be his vision. The stated purpose of the archive in CST, according to the church is “so that future generations will have available to them all of L. Ron Hubbard’s technology in its exact and original form, no matter what happens to the society.”

Lopez Lake is a reservoir near the city of Arroyo Grande in San Luis Obispo County, California. The lake is formed by Lopez Dam on Arroyo Grande Creek, 9 mi (14 km) upstream from the Pacific Ocean. The creek drains about 60 sq mi (160 km2) above the dam and 90 sq mi (230 km2) below. The dam was built in 1969 (1969) and is operated by the San Luis Obispo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District. The earth-fill dam was retrofitted to protect against earthquakes between 2001 and 2003. The winter of 2022-2023 brought the reservoir to the capacity of 49,200 acre-feet (60,700,000 m3). In March 2023 the lake overflowed into the spillway for the first time since 1998, some 25 years prior. Lopez Lake provides drinking water for Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Pismo Beach, Oceano and Avila Beach. It also provides groundwater recharge, water for irrigation and flood control. Unlike most municipal water supplies, human contact with the water is permitted. Sailing, wind surfing, water skiing, swimming, fishing and camping are popular activities. There is also a waterslide next to the lake. To prevent contamination of the drinking water, water from the lake is piped 3 mi (4.8 km) to a terminal reservoir, where it remains to allow particles to settle out and pathogens to die off. The water then goes through flocculation, filtration and chlorination at the Lopez Water Treatment Plant. The recreation area consists of 4,200 acres (1,700 ha) of open space, trails and camping areas. A network of equestrian, bike and hiking trails criss-cross the park which is primarily oak woodland and coastal sage scrub. The area is frequented by black bears, mountain lions, mule deer and a number of other small mammals. Several special events are held at the park yearly such as the Lopez Lake Trout Derby held in May, the California Polytechnic University Triathlon and the Scott Tinley Dirty Adventures Triathlon.

Rancho Santa Margarita was a 17,735-acre (71.77 km2) Mexican land grant in the Santa Lucia Mountains, in present day San Luis Obispo County, central California. The rancho was granted by Governor pro tem Manuel Jimeno Casarin in 1841 to Joaquín Estrada. The grant encompassed present day Santa Margarita. It remains an active ranch.

Rancho Arroyo Grande was a 4,437-acre (17.96 km2) Mexican land grant in present day San Luis Obispo County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Zeferino Carlón. The grant extended along Arroyo Grande Creek east of present day Arroyo Grande. Much of the grant is now covered by Lopez Lake.

Santa Margarita (Spanish for "St. Margaret") is a town and census-designated place located in San Luis Obispo County, California. It was founded in 1889 near Cuesta Peak and San Luis Obispo along State Route 58. The town's name comes from the Mexican Alta California land grant of Rancho Santa Margarita. It is home to the Santa Margarita de Cortona Asistencia site. The population was 1,259 at the 2010 census.

The Cuesta fire was a wildfire that started on 16 August 2015 near U.S. Route 101 and the Cuesta Grade, in the Santa Lucia Range just north of San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo County, California. The fire was contained on 28 August, and had burned 2,446 acres, some within the Los Padres National Forest.

Talley Vineyards is a family-owned and operated California wine estate producing primarily Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. The winery is located in Arroyo Grande Valley, near the town of Arroyo Grande in the southern corner of San Luis Obispo County. Talley farms 174 acres of wine grapes in six unique vineyards located in the Arroyo Grande Valley and Edna Valley AVAs. Talley Vineyards produces 30,000 cases annually.

The Santa Margarita de Cortona Asistencia was established in 1787 as an asistencia ("sub-mission") to Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, then in the Spanish Las Californias Province. Its site is near the present day city of Santa Margarita, in San Luis Obispo County, central California.

The Pacific Coast Railroad is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge tourist railroad located at the Santa Margarita Ranch in Santa Margarita, California. Established in 2000 and completed in 2004 by San Luis Obispo entrepreneur Rob Rossi, the railroad sees only limited public operation. Phase 1 consisted of a 1.5 mi (2.4 km) loop around the most historic part of the ranch. The railroad currently operates three steam locomotives built between 1897 and 1968, and four of the original Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad Retlaw 1 passenger cars. One of the locomotives, the No. 2 Roger Linn, was used in the Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman TV show. Other equipment includes an ex-International Railways of Central America caboose, business car Cuscatlan, and several ex-Denver & Rio Grande freight cars.