Lake Merced
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lake Merced | |
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| Location | San Francisco, California |
| Coordinates | 37°43′15″N 122°29′45″W / 37.7208°N 122.4958°WCoordinates: 37°43′15″N 122°29′45″W / 37.7208°N 122.4958°W |
| Lake type | Reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Spring |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 650 acres (260 ha) |
| Surface elevation | 7 m (23 ft) |
| References | USGS GNIS: Lake Merced |
Lake Merced is a freshwater lake in the southwest corner of San Francisco, California. It is surrounded by three golf courses (the private Olympic Club and San Francisco Golf Club, and the public Harding Park Golf Club), as well as residential areas, Lowell High School, San Francisco State University, Fort Funston and the Pacific Ocean. The SFPD shooting range, as well as a skeet shooting club and the city's National Guard armory are also in the area.
Once owned by Francisco De Haro, first Alcalde of Yerba Buena, as part of the Galindo ranch, the Spring Valley Water Company bought the water rights for the Lake in 1868, and the surrounding watershed in successive years.[1] By purchasing all local supply, the company created a monopoly on San Francisco's water. It was not until 1908, when the city approved construction of O'Shaughnessy Dam creating the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, that the city gained municipal control. Prior to the construction of the dam, Lake Merced was to serve as the city's main reservoir, with plans to expand the lake into land that is now the San Francisco State University campus. Around this time, Spring Valley sold off some of its land on Lake Merced, making way for the golf courses that exist today. In 1940, Metropolitan Life bought the last of Spring Valley's land to build the Parkmerced apartment complex.
The lake is fed by an underground spring, and at one time it did have an outlet to the ocean. The salt level was always fluctuating, and therefore some species of fish which inhabit the lake are salt and freshwater adapted. There is active recreational fishing at the lake.
The lake's water level had been shrinking for decades, endangering the historic role of Lake Merced to support a healthy ecosystem.[2] Due to better management of the aquifer and occasional additions of water, lake level has been rising since 1990. [3]
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[edit] Famous duel
On September 13, 1859, Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court David S. Terry killed United States Senator David C. Broderick in a duel at the lake.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Sara Marcellino and Brandon Jebens (24 May 2001). The History of Human Use at Lake Merced. San Francisco State University. http://bss.sfsu.edu/holzman/Lakemerced/landuse.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ Vivian Matuk and Nick Salcedo (17 July 2001). Hydrology and Water Quality of Lake Merced. San Francisco State University. http://bss.sfsu.edu/holzman/LakeMerced/water.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
- ^ http://www.museumca.org/creeks/1700-OBDCPix4.html Lake Level Fluctuations
- ^ Hittell, Theodore Henry (1898), History of California, iv, San Francisco, California: N. J. Stone & Company, pp. 224, http://books.google.com/books?id=DuctAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA224
[edit] External links
- Guide to San Francisco Bay Area Creeks - Lake Merced
- Lake Merced Flickr group - Pictures of Lake Merced on Flicker
