{"id":456017,"date":"2026-09-07T05:56:45","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T05:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/456017\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T05:56:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T05:56:45","slug":"slo-county-ca-lake-might-open-to-swimming-for-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/456017\/","title":{"rendered":"SLO County CA lake might open to swimming for first time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

A new law allows body contact with the water at Santa Margarita Lake starting Jan. 1, 2027, but the details have yet to be worked out with San Luis Obispo County. The lake is seen here on Sept. 2, 2026.<\/p>\n

David Middlecamp<\/p>\n

dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com<\/p>\n

Swimmers will be allowed to dive into Santa Margarita Lake<\/a> for the first time ever next year.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1253 into law, which empowered the county to open the lake to body contact on Jan. 1. But swimming likely won\u2019t be allowed until the summer of 2027, according to the county.<\/p>\n

The law could allow a range of new recreational uses, state Sen. John Laird said in a press release announcing the change, including \u201cswimming, paddleboarding, windsurfing, sail or foil boarding, water access from the beach or shore, and body-contact fishing.\u201d<\/p>\n

It will be up to the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors<\/a> to decide what new activities will be allowed or restricted in the lake, San Luis Obispo County Public Works Director John Diodati said.<\/p>\n

Soon after the announcement, some people were excited about the prospect of swimming in the lake.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019d be a good lake to have a nice dip in, especially on those hot summer days,\u201d San Luis Obispo resident James Valdez said while fishing on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

But others worried that people would start water-skiing and wakeboarding at the lake \u2014 disturbing the peace.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a nightmare,\u201d Lakewood resident Mike Byrum said while hitching his boat to his truck on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\"James James Valdez fishes from the banks of Santa Margarita Lake on Sept. 2, 2026. A new law allows body contact with the water at Santa Margarita Lake starting in January, but the details have yet to be worked out with San Luis Obispo County. David Middlecamp dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com Swimming may soon be allowed at Santa Margarita Lake<\/p>\n

Santa Margarita Lake was created by the construction of the Salinas Dam in 1941, according to county parks. Now, the reservoir supplies water to the city of San Luis Obispo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

People can already fish, boat, canoe and kayak on the lake \u2014 but so far, they haven\u2019t been allowed to make body contact with the water.<\/p>\n

Laird wrote the new law and pushed it through the state Legislature.<\/p>\n

\u201cSanta Margarita Lake is an incredible public resource, and advances in water treatment mean we can safely allow people to enjoy more of what the lake has to offer,\u201d he said in the release.<\/p>\n

The law also requires local officials to continue to monitor and treat the water according to state health standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city of San Luis Obispo will continue using microfiltration and disinfection to treat the water, with oversight from the State Water Resources Control Board,\u201d the release said.<\/p>\n

\"A A new law allows body contact with the water at Santa Margarita Lake starting Jan. 1, 2027, but the details have yet to be worked out with San Luis Obispo County. The lake is seen here on Sept. 2, 2026. David Middlecamp dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com <\/p>\n

Swimming is allowed at other drinking water reservoirs in San Luis Obispo County, including Lopez Lake and Lake Nacimiento.<\/p>\n

The Board of Supervisors will eventually hold a public meeting to vote on whether to expand recreational access to the lake.<\/p>\n

Diodati said he expects the county to prohibit jet skis, wake surfing, water-skiing, wakeboarding, tubing \u201cor other activity that causes shore erosion or impacts to existing uses.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Heather Moreno celebrated the passage of the law, calling it \u201ca win for our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt expands recreational opportunities at Santa Margarita Lake while protecting the water supply we all depend on,\u201d she said in the release.<\/p>\n

What activities should be allowed?<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, a light breeze carried a hush over the lake \u2014 rustling the leaves in the trees and sending ripples across the water. A lone motorboat briefly interrupted the quiet as it puttered across the lake.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s so nice about this lake,\u201d Lakewood resident William Hogue said. \u201cIt\u2019s quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n

He drove to Santa Margarita Lake on Tuesday with his friend, Byrum, to practice for a fishing tournament. He hopes the lake will remain peaceful when the new law takes effect.<\/p>\n

Both fishermen supported opening portions of the lake to swimming, but they urged the county to prohibit activities that create large wakes, like waterskiing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you put wakeboard boats in a lake like this, it\u2019s going to wake everybody out and be a catastrophe,\u201d Byrum said.<\/p>\n

\"Lakewood Lakewood resident Mike Byrum had a day of bass fishing at Santa Margarita Lake on Sept. 2, 2026. He\u2019s concerned that the lake is too small to host ski boats that create large wakes. David Middlecamp dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com <\/p>\n

Other visitors at the lake weren\u2019t as concerned.<\/p>\n

Paso Robles resident Amber Aguilera said she supports swimming at the lake. The lake would be busier, but that would bring in more revenue and allow the county to fix the road coming in to the park, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019d be more good than bad,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

San Luis Obispo resident James Valdez fishes for bass at Santa Margarita Lake about once a week. He also goes to Lake Nacimiento for fishing, pleasure boating and swimming, and Lopez Lake for wind surfing, boating and swimming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all unique,\u201d he said of the lakes.<\/p>\n

He supports opening Santa Margarita Lake to swimming, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore folks would come and enjoy the lake,\u201d Valdez said. \u201cThe kiddos could do their youthful activities and jump off the rocks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Amber Amber Aguilera takes a break from fishing at Santa Margarita Lake on Sept. 2, 2026. A new law allows body contact with the water starting in January, but the details have yet to be worked out with San Luis Obispo County. David Middlecamp dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com \"A A Western Grebe glides on Santa Margarita Lake on Sept. 2, 2026. A new law allows body contact with the water starting in January, but the details have yet to be worked out with San Luis Obispo County. David Middlecamp dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com \"A A motorboat putters across Santa Margarita Lake on Sept. 2, 2026. A new law allows body contact with the water starting in January, but the details have yet to be worked out with San Luis Obispo County. David Middlecamp dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com
\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Stephanie Zappelli<\/a><\/p>\n

The Tribune<\/p>\n

Stephanie Zappelli is the environment and immigration reporter for The Tribune. Born and raised in San Diego, they graduated from Cal Poly with a journalism degree. When not writing, they enjoy playing guitar, reading and exploring the outdoors.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new law allows body contact with the water at Santa Margarita Lake starting Jan. 1, 2027, but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-456017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}