The San Luis Reservoir is an off-stream artificial lake in the eastern slopes of the Diablo Range of Merced County, California, approximately 12 mi (19 km) west of Los Banos on State Route 152 which crosses Pacheco Pass and runs along its north shore. The reservoir stores water taken from the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta as the surplus water would otherwise run into the Pacific Ocean. Water is pumped up-hill into the reservoir from the O'Ne...
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The San Luis Reservoir is an off-stream artificial lake in the eastern slopes of the Diablo Range of Merced County, California, approximately 12 mi (19 km) west of Los Banos on State Route 152 which crosses Pacheco Pass and runs along its north shore. The reservoir stores water taken from the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta as the surplus water would otherwise run into the Pacific Ocean. Water is pumped up-hill into the reservoir from the O'Neill Forebay which is fed by the California Aqueduct and is released back into the forebay to continue downstream along the aqueduct as needed for farm irrigation and other uses. Depending on water levels, the reservoir is approximately nine miles long from north to south at its longest point, and five miles (8 km) wide. At the eastern end of the reservoir is the San Luis Dam, or the B.F. Sisk Dam, the fourth largest embankment dam in the United States, which allows for a total capacity of 2,041,000 acre·ft (2,518,000 dam³) making San Luis...
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