Here’s a quick article written by Katie Onheiber in the Big Bear Grizzly today about Baker’s Pond (Standfield Marsh), Baldwin Lake, Lake Williams, and Erwin Lake….all temporary bodies of water, not a recreational body of water like Big Bear Lake. It’s always nice to hear the water table is up in various parts of the Valley.
Vanishing Lakes: Big Bear Valley has several Temporary bodies of Water
Lakefront property. Many desire it and few have it. Some Valley residents are rewarded with temporary lakefront property after winter’s large amounts of precipitation create small lakes in otherwise dry areas.
Stanfield Marsh, also known as Baker Pond, is full most of the time. Some residents enjoy a lakefront view almost as permanent as living west of Stanfield Cutoff. Jan Stoll is one such resident.
“Right now I’d say it’s about 4 or 5 feet at the deepest point,” Stoll says. A resident heron coined Hank hangs out there. Coyotes, Canada geese, ducks and other fauna take a liking to the high water levels in the marsh.
The area near Stanfield Marsh on the North Shore was subdivided in 1993 and the developer put up a fence to block homes to lake access, Stoll says. “MWD (Municipal Water District) frowns on people going out there,” Stoll says. “It is a natural habitat for all this wildlife.” Once in a blue moon Stoll sees a canoe or kayak on the water, but boats are forbidden.
Farther northeast, Baldwin Lake’s dry expanse fills approximately every seven years.
“There’s serenity and natural beauty out here,” says Baldwin Lake resident Clarissa Winslow. With ample water comes plenty of wildlife. “There must have been 300 ducks out here the other day.” Add coyotes, herons and geese to the mix and Baldwin Lake practically becomes a zoo.
Not only does Winslow enjoy the sights of the soggy backyard, her three horses love it. “They want to play and roll in it like little kids,” Winslow says.
And there is no beating the sunsets and sunrises. “There are absolutely beautiful reflections,” Winslow says. At night the stars twinkle softly on the lake from above. Winslow says Sunday morning is prime viewing time because of the absence of traffic. “It’s a great place for nature walks for kids.”
The temporary lake is also a great selling point for the homes available for rent on Winslow’s 20-plus acre property.
“People come out to see it and ask if it’s like this all the time,” Winslow says. “We say no, but they say ‘we’ll take it even for three or four months of the year.’”
Folks in Lake William are home to a rare visitor. A small portion of the area fills with water, creating what some would call more of a moat than a lake.
But nearby Erwin Lake holds water five to six months of the year, according to resident Ron Kemper. “I would say it’s 10 feet at deepest,” Kemper says. You can walk across most places of the lake, he says. “It’s absolutely picturesque.”
Kemper purchased 300 acres in Erwin Lake and subdivided 32 lots into 6-acre parcels. He and other residents reap the benefits of the peek-a-boo lake. Kemper has even taken a canoe on it.
Wish be granted and Kemper would see the lake full year-round. “CSD (Big Bear City Community Services District) wanted to store water there, but abandoned the idea some years ago,” Kemper says. “We’ve asked them to revisit it; so far they haven’t taken us up on it.”
Kemper says the benefits of a year-round lake would be endless. “Usually the water is gone by the time it’s warm enough where people want to go out on it,” Kemper says. For now, Kemper and other residents can enjoy their lakefront property until maybe May or June. Then they must wait for temperatures to drop and clouds to roll in, and their lakefront property will be once more.
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