Morris Reservoir

Morris Reservoir is located in the San Gabriel Mountains, within the Angeles National Forest, in Los Angeles County, California.It is impounded by Morris Dam, which was completed in 1935. Morris Dam is a gravity dam rising 245ft above the San Gabriel River stream bed.GeographyThe reservoir is located alongside California State Route 39, approximately 5mi north of the city of Azusa. Morris Reservoir is below San Gabriel Dam. The mean water elevation is about 1100ft, when the reservoir is at capacity.Morris Reservoir Naval Weapons Test SiteThe reservoir and its slopes were the Morris Reservoir Naval Weapons Test Site, a naval weapons test facility, from World War II through the 1990s. The reservoir was transferred to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works in 1995.The test facility was established by Caltech, which was developing weapons for the Navy at its Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS) at China Lake (town), near Ridgecrest, California. It today is now known as the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, and is still the primary proving ground for naval weapons systems. Because China Lake is a dry lake in the Mojave Desert, Caltech opened this substation at the Morris Reservoir, near their campus, north of Azusa in the San Gabriel Mountains.