Stone Canyon Overlook

Stone Canyon Overlook. Mulholland Scenic Parkway. , The reservoir and more than 225 acres of surrounding watershed land are owned and operated by the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. This large protected area, which is not open to public access, provides a high quality wildlife habitat area. The open water offers an immense source of drinking water for land animals and locally uncommon habitat for water fowl and aquatic organisms, particularly crayfish and bluegill fish. , Federal drinking water standards were recently tightened regarding the condition of open water reservoirs. Stone Canyon Reservoir is too large to cover. For it to remain in service, a new filtration plant and underground storage tanks have been proposed for the northern end of the upper reservoir. , Lower Stone Canyon Reservoir was built in the 1920's when it was not uncommon to encounter a mountain lion in this portion of the Santa Monica Mountains. Previous to then, real estate speculators had subdivided much of the immediate watershed, including what is now underwater, into tiny mountain lots. , In 1955, the lower reservoir and its dam were refurbished and the much smaller upper reservoir was added. Both reservoirs are filled with a gravity siphon via a pipeline across the floor of the San Fernando Valley to the Los Angeles Reservoir in Granada Hills. The one mile long lower reservoir covers more than 125 acres. Its deepest point exceeds 130 feet.