Lake Merced
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| Lake Merced | |
|---|---|
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| Location | California |
| Coordinates | |
| Primary sources | underground spring |
| Basin countries | United States |
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.
Once owned by Francisco De Haro, first Alcade 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 resevior, 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 has been shrinking for decades and the lake is now three separate ponds separated by mud flats that were formerly the bottom of the lake. The issue is very contentious in local politics and the community and government is trying to solve the problem.
Lake Merced is also associated with Daly City, although lake levels are decreasing, endangering the historic role of Lake Merced to support a healthy ecosystem.[1]
[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.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://bss.sfsu.edu/holzman/LakeMerced/water.htm Lake Merced Hydrology
- ^ Hittell, Theodore Henry (1898), History of California, vol. iv, San Francisco, California: N. J. Stone & Company, pp. 224, <http://books.google.com/books?id=DuctAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA224>
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