College Lake was known as Laguna Grande and became known as "College Lake" sometime after 1869. In 1869 the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum was built nearby. The asylum was nicknamed "the college" as a polite term. College Lake (and later College Road) get their names from this nickname.
In 1924, Reclamation District Two was created, and the lake was pumped dry to create more farmland. The USGS survey maps show College Lake as an "intermittent lake."
| Location |
| "East Lake Avenue; Paulsen Road, Watsonville, CA 95076", "36.947006", "-121.745369" |
| Size |
| ? acres |
| Features |
| Seasonal lake |
| Farm land |
Used as farmland during summer.
College Lake is a seasonal lake in Watsonville, near the Santa Cruz County Fair grounds and is bordered by East Lake Avenue (Highway 152) and Paulsen Road. The lake is fed by a few small creeks during the rainy season, and it eventually drains into Salsipuedes Creek.
College Lake is usually dried up by late spring or summer and the land area is used for farming.
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Comments
2011-01-30 23:04:58 Why did the Reclamation District II build a weir at the pump station? So as to always have a basin from which to pump? Does the weir significantly increase water levels in the lake, or would they back up naturally to the normal winter level (60-62 feet above sea level) just from the narrowness of the exit channel and general flatness of the drainage? As of this date, 1/30/11, the level behind the weir is just 6 inches higher than the downstream discharge. The weir is built up with sandbags. —71.139.14.146
