{{Short description|Endorheic lake in Lebec, California}} {{distinguish|Castaic Lake}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox body of water | name = Castac Lake | other_name = | image = Castac Lake2015.jpg | image_size = 280px | caption = Castac Lake is visible from I-5. | image_bathymetry = | alt_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = | location = Lebec, Kern County, California | coords = {{Coord|34.8349730|-118.8431683|region:CA_type:waterbody|display =inline,title}}<ref name="GNIS"/> | type = saline, endorheic (sink) | inflow = Cuddy Creek, Bear Canyon, Crane Canyon | outflow = Grapevine Creek | catchment = {{convert|56|mi2|km2|abbr=on}}<ref name="Lippincott"/> | basin_countries = | agency = | length = {{convert|1|mi|km}} | width = | area = {{convert|400|acre|ha|abbr=on}}<ref name="FWS"/> | depth = | max-depth = | volume = | residence_time = | shore = | elevation = {{convert|3484|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="GNIS"/> | frozen = | islands = | cities = <!-- Map --> | pushpin_map = California#USA | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = Location of Castac Lake in California, USA. | pushpin_map_caption = <!-- Below --> | website = | reference = }} '''Castac Lake''' (Chumash: ''Kaštiq''),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://escholarship.org/content/qt3s34f5ss/qt3s34f5ss.pdf?t=krnh6i|title=Chumash Place Names|accessdate=19 August 2023}}</ref> also known as '''Tejon Lake''',<ref name="GNIS">{{cite gnis|id=270333|name=Castac Lake|entrydate=1981-01-19|accessdate=2014-06-16}}</ref> is a natural saline endorheic, or sink, lake near Lebec, California. The lake is located in the Tehachapi Mountains just south of the Grapevine section of Interstate 5, and within Tejon Ranch. Normal water elevations are 3,482 feet (1,061 m) above sea level.<ref>{{cite map |publisher=ACME Mapper |title=USGS Topo Maps for United States |year= |cartography=United States Geological Survey |accessdate=2014-06-16 |url=http://mapper.acme.com/}}</ref>
==Geography and geology== The lake lies in a natural sink at the eastern end of the Castac Valley, a rift valley formed along the Garlock Fault.<ref name="FWS">{{cite news |title=3.2 Water Resources |publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |work=Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement: Tehachapi Uplands Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan |date=January 2012 }}</ref> The main inflows are Cuddy Creek and small intermittent streams originating in Bear and Crane Canyons, draining a total of {{convert|56|mi2|km2}} into the lake.<ref name="Lippincott">{{cite book|title=Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q6weAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA256|year=1896|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=256}}</ref> The lake was formed about 10,000 years ago, by the natural damming of water behind the alluvial fan of Cuddy Creek, blocking its natural northern outlet to Grapevine Creek.<ref name="CommissionLawson1908">{{cite book|author1=California. State Earthquake Investigation Commission|author2=Andrew Cowper Lawson|author3=Harry Fielding Reid|title=The California earthquake of April 18, 1906: Report of the State Earthquake Investigation Commission ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nOZZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA43|year=1908|publisher=Carnegie Institution of Washington|pages=43}}</ref> During most years the outlet lies about {{convert|12|ft|m}} higher than the lake surface. During rare flooding events, the lake does overflow into Grapevine Creek, which flows through a canyon into the San Joaquin Valley.
==History== Although Castac Lake itself is saline, or salty, the abundance of freshwater springs nearby made it an attractive area for human settlement.<ref name="Lippincott"/> The lake area was once the territory of the Castac and Emigdiano groups of Chumash people, who occupied the area between Tejon Pass and the modern Grapevine.<ref name="Bernard2008">{{cite book|author=Julienne Lorraine Bernard|title=An Archaeological Study of Resistance, Persistence, and Culture Change in the San Emigdio Canyon, Kern County, California|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=skseHhCm0VoC&pg=PA39|year=2008|isbn=978-0-549-72451-3|page=39}}</ref> Several Native American villages were located in the area, including the Emigdiano village of Sasau on the northern shore of the lake. The Chumash name for the lake was ''Kash-tük'', or "my eyes". The lake was known as ''A-uva-pya'', or "in his eyes", in Kitanemuk, and as ''Sasa-u'', "at the eye", in Yokuts.<ref>{{cite book|title=American Anthropologist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJEjAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA774|year=1915|publisher=American Anthropological Association|page=774}}</ref>
The lake was first seen by Spanish explorer Pedro Fages who in 1772 led the first European expedition to cross the Tehachapis via Tejon Pass into the San Joaquin Valley. Fages named the lake ''Salinas de Cortes'' and Tejon Pass the ''Portezuelo de Cortes''. The lake's modern name may have originated from a later Spanish expedition circa 1806, in which Father José María de Zalvidea noted a Native American village called "Casteque" or "Kashtiq" near "[a lake of] pure salt water".<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Trail to Kashtiq |author=Johnson, John R. |journal=The Journal of California Anthropology |volume=5 |number=2 |pages=188–198 |publisher=Santa Clara Valley History |url=http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/johnson-kashtiq.htm |year=1978 |accessdate=2014-06-16}}</ref>
In 1843 the lake was incorporated in a land grant which formed {{convert|22178|acre|ha|adj=on}} Rancho Castac.<ref>{{cite book|author=Historic Spots in California, Third Edition|title=Historic Spots in California, Third Edition|year=1966 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wYGaAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA126|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-4020-3|page=126}}</ref> In 1854, Fort Tejon was founded in the Grapevine Valley about {{convert|5|mi|km}} northwest of the lake, to command the main route (via Tejon Pass) between the Central Valley and Southern California.<ref>{{cite web |author=Stammerjohan, George |title=History of Fort Tejon |url=http://www.forttejon.org/history.html |publisher=Fort Tejon Historical Association |website= |date= |accessdate=2014-06-16}}</ref> The Rancho Castac was eventually acquired by Edward Fitzgerald Beale, who founded Tejon Ranch (at one point the largest private landholding in California).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tejonranch.com/the-brand/ranch-history/ |title=Ranch History |publisher=Tejon Ranch |accessdate=2014-06-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140619053457/http://tejonranch.com/the-brand/ranch-history/ |archivedate=2014-06-19 }}</ref>
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries the lakebed was occasionally mined for salt, as it tends to evaporate after extended periods of drought.<ref>{{cite book|author=Geological Survey (U.S.)|title=Bulletin - United States Geological Survey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZoglAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA182|year=1917|publisher=The Survey|page=182}}</ref> According to historical records the lake was full through most of the 1940s, and dry in the early 1950s and early 1980s. During the mid-1990s, especially after the El Niño episode in 1997, the lake filled to overflowing.<ref name="TWDR">{{cite web |url=http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralvalley/board_decisions/tentative_orders/1104/tejon_mtn_village/12_tejon_rtc.pdf |title=Response to Written Comments on Tentative Waste Discharge Requirements for Tejon Mountain Village, LLC., Tejon Mountain Village, Kern County |publisher=California State Water Resources Control Board |work=Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region |date=2011-04-07 |accessdate=2014-06-16}}</ref>
Since 2001 the lake level has been artificially maintained by Tejon Ranch via pumping of groundwater in the Castac Valley area,<ref name="TWDR"/> though dropping well water levels have caused controversy over this practice.<ref>{{cite news |author=Hedlund, Patric |title=Tejon May Let Lake Go Dry |work=The Mountain Enterprise |date=2009-08-21 |url=https://mountainenterprise.com/story/tejon-may-let-lake-go-dry-1780/}}</ref> The higher lake levels have also increased the risk of overflow and flooding in Grapevine Valley, most recently in 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralvalley/board_decisions/tentative_orders/1104/tejon_mtn_village/10_tejon_cbd_com.pdf |title=Comments Re: Tejon Mountain Village WDRs |author=Mahnke, Debra |publisher=California State Water Resources Control Board |website= |date=2011-02-28 |accessdate=2014-06-16}}</ref>
==Water quality== Due to the local geology, Castac Lake contains naturally elevated levels of arsenic, boron, selenium, and aluminum, which concentrate during drought conditions and are flushed out in occasional floods.<ref name="FWS"/> The lake meets most water quality objectives, but at times has an excess of coliform bacteria.<ref>[https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralvalley/board_decisions/tentative_orders/1104/tejon_mtn_village/01_tejon_buff.pdf Board decision]waterboards.ca.gov {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211213232/http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralvalley/board_decisions/tentative_orders/1104/tejon_mtn_village/01_tejon_buff.pdf |date=February 11, 2017 }}</ref>
==See also== *List of lakes of California
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Castac Lake}} Category:Endorheic lakes of California Category:Lakes of Kern County, California