Lake Don Pedro /

Don Pedro Reservoir is an artificial lake formed by the construction of the Don Pedro Dam across the Tuolumne River in the Stanislaus National Forest of Tuolumne County, California in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Communities located nearby are Moccasin and La Grange. Also referenced as Don Pedro Lake when the name is qualified, the first projects in 1923 are generally referred to as the Old Don Pedro Dam and reservoir, and the 1971 upgrades are the New Don Pedro Dam and reservoir. Don Pedro Reservoir takes its name from Don Pedros Bar. Pierre("Don Pedro") Sainsevain was one of the first prospectors after the discovery of gold in 1848. The reservoir's shoreline is approximately 160 mi (260 km), has submerged some 26 mi (42 km) of Tuolumne River bed, and has a surface area of about 13,000 acres (5,300 ha). The 2,030,000 acre·ft (2,500,000 dam³) stored here comes from a watershed of over 1,500 sq mi (3,900 km), and is used by the Modesto Irrigation District (MID) and the Turlock Irrigation District (TID) for the irrigation of several hundred square miles of productive Central Valley farm land. Some of the water is treated by the MID and used as drinking water in Modesto. The