Lake Elsinore is the largest natural freshwater lake in Southern California. With its own 750-mi2 (1,900-km2) watershed, it is situated at the lowest point within the San Jacinto River watershed of 750 sq mi (1,900 km2)[clarification needed], at the terminus of the San Jacinto River. It is the terminal lake of a partially closed basin called the San Jacinto Basin.
Lake levels are healthy at an average of 1,244 ft(379 m) above sea level with a volume of 30,000 acre⋅ft(9.8 billion US gal; 37 billion l)[2] that often fluctuates, although much has been done recently to prevent the lake from drying up, flooding, or becoming stagnant.
At 1,255 ft(383 m), the lake will spill into the outflow channel on its northeastern shore, known properly as Temescal Wash, flowing northwest through Temescal Canyon and feeding Alberhill Creek, which joins Temescal Creek, which in turn dumps into the Santa Ana River just northwest of Corona.
