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Overview
Lake Casitas is a roughly 2,700-acre reservoir in Ventura County near Ojai and Oak View, formed by Casitas Dam on Coyote Creek as part of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Ventura River Project. The dam was completed in 1959 and is operated by the Casitas Municipal Water District for municipal and irrigation supply, with recreation as an important secondary use.
At a full-pool elevation of 567 feet the lake stores about 254,000 acre-feet, with roughly 32 miles of shoreline and a hydraulic depth near 261 feet at the dam. Steep coastal-mountain walls, creek arms, and water diverted from the Ventura River via the Robles Diversion give Casitas a deep, enclosed character fed by both local runoff and imported river water.
The lake is a popular Ventura County destination for boating, camping, and fishing for largemouth bass, rainbow trout, and other species managed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Public ramps, a marina, and lakeside recreation facilities support heavy weekend use from the Oxnard–Ventura corridor.
Water levels are managed by Casitas MWD around the 567-foot spillway/conservation pool for water-supply reliability rather than a Corps-style winter flood guide curve. Elevations can drop substantially in multi-year droughts when local runoff and Robles diversions are limited, so monitoring current lake levels is important for boating, fishing, and shoreline access.
Lake Casitas is a 2,700-acre reservoir on the Coyote Creek and Santa Ana Creek managed by Casitas Municipal Water District (USBR-owned, Ventura River Project).