Cachuma Lake
reservoir in Santa Barbara County, California, United States
Cachuma Lake is a reservoir in the Santa Ynez Valley of central Santa Barbara County, California on the Santa Ynez River adjoining the north side of California State Route 154. The artificial lake was created by the construction of Bradbury Dam, a 201 ft (61 m) earth-fill structure built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1953. Its surface area covers 3,100 acres (1,300 ha), with a maximum design capacity of 205,000 acre⋅ft (253,000,000 m3), but it is currently limited to 188,000 acre⋅ft (232,000,000 m3) due to sediment accumulation.
The late-December 2022 and early-January 2023 storms dramatically raised the water level in the lake, from an average of 33% full to 100% full for the first time in 12 years.
History
Built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1953, the name "Cachuma" comes from a Chumash village that the Spanish spelled "Aquitsumu", from the Barbareño Chumash word aqitsu'm, meaning "sign".
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation oversees the lake’s operations and maintenance. Five agencies that stretch from Santa Ynez to Carpinteria take water from Cachuma. The Central Coast Water Authority (CCWA) extension of the California Aqueduct completed in 1997, is a 30–39-inch diameter pipeline (76–99 cm) that travels 42 miles (68 km) from Vandenberg Space Force Base through Vandenberg Village, Lompoc, Buellton, and Solvang and terminates at Cachuma.
Water Levels
The water levels of the lake are highly variable, spilling in some years and receding to less than 10% of capacity in dry years. Drought conditions can cause shortage in water supplies, as did the 2011-17 drought.
“Cachuma Lake” enters the record as reservoir in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Cachuma, Lake and reservoir can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Cachuma Lake” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Cachuma, Lake and reservoir provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6475141. VIAF identifies the subject as 315530303. The Library of Congress control number is sh89005860. Authority coordinates are 34.587, -119.981. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1953, 2022, 2023 and 1997.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Cachuma Lake”, its source revision and the description used here.
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Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Cachuma Lake” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.