Walking Waterhoods: Lodi Lake

This might look like a typical parking lot, but it was updated with environmentally-friendly features in 2024. Why? When it rains, water flows across the pavement carrying toxic pollutants like automobile oils and fluids, tire dust, and ani... Read more

The Grape Festival is Lodi's most popular annual event, attracting tens of thousands of visitors each September to celebrate the grape harvest. Today, it's held at the Lodi Grape Festival grounds, but did you know that it used to be at the ... Read more

In the early 1900s, farmers around Lodi Lake organized "rabbit drives" as a way to reduce the rabbit population. They invited hunters to help clear out the rabbits, which had become a serious problem for local crops. The drives became annua... Read more

In 1875, early settler Charles Edward Smith bought 80 acres of land from Captain Alexander McQueen on the south side of the Mokelumne River. Smith initially farmed onions and flax on the land; by 1885, he had also established a vineyard and... Read more

The Mokelumne River to the north fills Lodi Lake. As the river moves downstream from the Nature Area, it reaches the concrete Woodbridge Diversion Dam. The dam blocks some of the river’s flow, causing the water to collect behind it, creat... Read more

Lodi Lake began as a small seasonal lake formed by the Mokelumne River flooding during the winter. In 1889, a group of farmers established the Woodbridge Canal & Irrigation Company and built a wooden dam along the river to provide irrig... Read more

This is the Lodi Lake Discovery Center, a gateway to the lake’s scenic nature trails. Inside, exhibits highlight the Mokelumne River ecosystem and local wildlife, featuring mounted specimens and vintage photos of Lodi Lake’s history. Th... Read more

Fish kills (or fish die-offs) are signs of serious environmental distress in rivers and other bodies of water. Common reasons for fish kills are human sewage and agricultural fertilizers causing algae blooms and deoxygenating the water. Ano... Read more

Next time you take a sip of water in Lodi, think about this: you're drinking a blend of river water and 40-year-old "groundwater." The city’s drinking water comes from two main sources: the Mokelumne River and groundwater. After it rains,... Read more

If you've ever turned on a tap in Lodi, you've been using water treated right here at the Surface Water Treatment Plant. Since the 1980s, Lodi has nearly doubled its population, so relying solely on groundwater has become unsustainable. The... Read more

Woodbridge, the small town that borders on Lodi Lake, has deep roots in California’s history. In 1852, a man named Jeremiah Woods set up a ferry crossing on the Mokelumne River, making it a popular spot for travelers between Stockton and ... Read more

After the construction of the Woodbridge Dam in 1910, the new dam blocked salmon and steelhead trout from reaching their upstream spawning areas to which they return each year. When those species lose access to upper watersheds, they can't ... Read more

In the late 1800s, local farmers sought steady water supply from the Mokelumne River to support Lodi’s growing agriculture. In 1889, they formed the Woodbridge Canal & Irrigation Company. In 1891, they constructed a wooden dam to coll... Read more