page_title: Folsom Lake
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Folsom Lake / History
caption_attribution_description: Folsom Lake 58: Nov. 2015
context_page_description: Folsom Lake is a reservoir on the American River in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California, United States.
  It is located within Placer, El Dorado, and Sacramento counties. It is about 25 mi northeast of Sacramento. The lake surface area is 11,500 acres, its elevation is 466 ft and it has 75 mi of undulated shoreline. Folsom Lake and the surrounding Folsom Lake State Recreation Area is one of the most visited parks in the California Park system.
  The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has developed a safe eating advisory for Folsom Lake based on levels of mercury found in fish caught here.
context_section_description: The Folsom Lake reservoir is formed by Folsom Dam, built in 1955 to control and retain the American River. The dam and reservoir are part of the Folsom Project, which also includes the Nimbus afterbay reservoir and dam facilities. The Folsom Project, operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation, is part of the Central Valley Project, a multipurpose project that provides flood control, hydroelectricity, drinking water, and water for irrigation.
  When the dam was built, it was designed to hold 976,000 acre feet (1,204,000 dam³) with a surface area of 11,450 acres (4,630 ha). The dam is 1400 feet wide and 340 feet high. It is a concrete structure with approximately 9 miles of earth fill wing dams and dikes supporting its surrounding areas.
  During the drought of late 2013, part of the 2012–14 North American drought, the town known as Mormon Island reappeared 58 years after being submerged under Folsom Lake, with stone walls from some of the outlying areas being revealed by the shrinking lake.
caption: Folsom Lake during the 2011–2017 California drought
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