San Diego marked the 100th anniversary of Barrett Reservoir, a remote East County facility built during the city's early expansion of its municipal water system.
For a century, the reservoir and dam had served both infrastructure and recreation roles. Its history traced the extraordinary effort required to capture and move water in an arid border region.
The centennial invited a look backward, but the facility remained part of a living system. Drought, wildfire, habitat protection and aging assets continued to shape how the reservoir could be operated.