| | Photo Jeff Heyman | | | | | | Thanks to the wave of recent storms, Lake Cascade, a favorite of Lamorinda dog walkers and joggers alike, has recovered from the drought. The human-made lake, which supplies water to irrigate the golf course at the Orinda Country Club, is full again. So full, in fact, that the Club has had to release water, which creates a dramatic scene at the corner of El Ribero and Camino Sobrante in Orinda: a 35-foot waterfall that cascades under OCC's swimming pool. While the storms have filled Lake Cascade, California has not fully recovered from the three-year old drought. Construction of Lake Cascade began in 1923 as part of the Haciendas del Orinda development, according to Alison Burns's book, "Orinda." When the OCC was completed in 1924, its "free-form" swimming pool was fed by Lake Cascade via the spectacular waterfall. The original pool, "hid in growths of shrub and vine and flower," is long gone, but the dramatic waterfall remains and acts as a scenic spillway for Lake Cascade. |