Thinking about a lake day? Santa Margarita Lake could soon be open for swimming after years of being off-limits, thanks to a new state law that expands recreation while keeping the water safe.
“It’s one of the most beautiful lakes — quiet, there’s no skidoos [Sea-Doos], skiing and all that junk — and it’s wonderful, so what are you gonna ruin it for?” said Creston resident and avid fisherman Ted Ratcliff.
For decades, this man-made reservoir has been off-limits to swimmers because it supplies drinking water for the area, but Senate Bill 1253 could change that.
“That bill now is going to allow for body contact in Santa Margarita Lake which, effectively, is swimming,” said San Luis Obispo County interim Parks & Recreation Director John Diodati. “The lake has not allowed body contact, per state regulations, prior to now.”
Friday, the atmosphere at Santa Margarita Lake was as it always is, according to locals: peaceful, quiet, serene, and still.
“A lot of us are concerned with that going away,” said fisherman Eric Minks.
Minks frequents Santa Margarita Lake with a few other fishing buddies several times a week. He says that it’s not the swimming that’s making waves for him and his crew; it’s the other activities, like jet skiing and wakeboarding, that the bill could allow for.
“It’s 105º, you wanna jump in the lake? Cool. You know, go ahead. But the part of speedboats and wake boats and waves beating on the shore, changing the bird’s habitat and all that, people leaving trash, partying more on the beach, and stuff like that. That’s kind of what the concern is,” he said.
Currently, the lake is open to fishing, boating, canoeing and kayaking, but it will be up to the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors to decide what new activities the lake will see.
“We are not envisioning jet skis, we are not envisioning turning this into a Lake Nacimiento,” Diodati said. “Water skiing, wake surfing — those cause shoreline erosion, they impact water quality, so we don’t want to see those activities as well. This is still gonna remain a very beautiful and quiet reservoir for all users to enjoy now.”
What’s more likely to be seen at the lake will be swimming, paddleboarding, windsurfing, sail or foil boarding, water access from the beach or shore and body-contact fishing, which fisherman Mike Knodl doesn’t seem to mind.
But even the slight possibility of other activities showing up on the lake concerns him, especially for local wildlife.
“I’m just worried about the watercraft, you know,” he said. “The water skiing and the jet skis, I think, would be devastating. Jet skis can run over, you know, the wildlife. It can be birds or some of the mammals, the bears and the deer, they’ll swim across the lake.”
While the county has explored allowing swimming at Santa Margarita Lake for decades, county officials say the formal push began earlier this year when supervisors added support for recreational swimming to its legislative platform, leading Senator John Laird to sponsor a bill.
The lake supplies drinking water to the City of San Luis Obispo, so SB 1253 also requires local officials to continue to monitor and treat the water.
“When they brought on Nacimiento reservoir, which is another water supply for the city, they upgraded their treatment facilities, because that is a body-contact reservoir,” Diodati said. “This water from Santa Margarita is going to the same water treatment plant in the City of San Luis Obispo.”
The new access takes effect Jan. 1, but Diodati says people likely won’t be able to dive in until the summer of 2027, after ordinances and guidelines are in place.
