Cachuma Lake is a reservoir in the Santa Ynez Valley of central Santa Barbara County, California on the Santa Ynez River adjoining the north side of California State Route 154. The artificial lake was created by the construction of Bradbury Dam, a earth-fill structure built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1953. Its surface area covers , with a maximum design capacity of , but it is currently limited to due to sediment accumulation. The late-December, 2022 and early-January, 2023, storms dramatically raised the water level in the lake, from an average of 33% full to 100% full for the first time in 12 years. History Built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1953, the name "Cachuma" comes from a Chumash village that the Spanish spelled "Aquitsumu", from the Barbareño Chumash word aqitsu'm, meaning "sign". The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation oversees the lake’s operations and maintenance. Five agencies that stretch from Santa Ynez to Carpinteria take water from Cachuma. The Central Coast Water Authority (CCWA) extension of the California Aqueduct completed in 1997, is a that travels from Vandenberg Space Force Base through Vandenberg Village, Lompoc, Buellton, and Solvang and terminates at Cachuma. Water Levels The water levels of the lake are highly variable, spilling in some years and receding to less than 10% of capacity in dry years. Drought conditions can cause shortage in water supplies, as did the 2011-17 drought. In October 2016, the lake approached low levels not seen since the construction of Bradbury Dam. The lake level reached a minimum of on October 14, more than below the spillway elevation. At this time, the storage volume was only , approximately 7.3% of capacity. In January and February 2017, a series of frequent rains raised the water level substantially. On one day, February 17, 2017, the lake rose by during the storm alone, followed by further increases from storm runoff. By the end of February 2017, the Lake had become 44.5% full, with a total volume of . The Lake's water level declined again during the 2017-18 water year, with the Lake receding to less than one-third of its capacity. By March 28, 2019, above-normal precipitation had restored Lake Cachuma to 78.0% of its capacity. Despite an abnormally dry January and February 2020, a wet March and April brought the lake to 77% of capacity as of April 7, 2020. Several consecutive atmospheric river storms