page_title: Lake Lagunita
section_title: Sources
hierarchical_section_title: Lake Lagunita / Sources
caption_attribution_description: Lake Lagunita, Stanford University, California.
context_page_description: Lake Lagunita is an artificial dry lake in Stanford University, California, located on the western side of the Stanford campus near the Lagunita residences. It was created in c. 1870 to provide irrigation for Palo Alto Stock Farm.
context_section_description: During winters with normal rainfall, the lake used to be filled by diversion from San Francisquito Creek to a three-meter depth along with artificial water level maintenance, allowing recreational use by students. However, the lake has not been artificially filled since the late 1990s, due to problems either with the lake's damming walls or with conservation efforts. The diversion dam on San Francisquito Creek that had been used to fill the lake was removed in 2019.
  As the lake is no longer permanently filled, it serves as a drainage basin and contains vernal pools throughout the winter and spring months. It is during this time that it serves as a vital breeding ground for endemic amphibians, rabbits, jack-rabbits, and ground squirrels.
  As of May 2020, Stanford University is constructing a steel-stake & plastic-mesh fence around the dry lake.  This may isolate & impede native wildlife including jack-rabbits (common hare), cottontail rabbits, voles, ground squirrels, tree squirrels, moles, coyotes and other endemic species.
caption: The lake serves as a basin in the winter and spring, filling to a maximum depth of approximately three feet. The majority of the remaining area is pocketed with smaller vernal pools and temporary wetlands.
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