Coyote Lake, also called Coyote Reservoir, is in the hills between Morgan Hill and Gilroy. Wikipedia says Coyote Dam is an earth and rock dam 140 feet high and 980 feet long. Both Wikipedia and Valley Water put the reservoir's capacity at 23,244 acre-feet, and Valley Water lists its surface area as 635 acres.
History
Valley Water says the reservoir sits on the former Rancho San Ysidro, a cattle ranch that belonged to Ygnacio Ortega in the early 1800s. It was one of the original six reservoirs approved by voters in May 1934, and construction began that year after the federal Public Works Administration approved a $673,000 grant. The district says the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza named the waterway Arroyo del Coyote after coyotes he saw on his journey.
Things to do
Wikipedia says a 4,595-acre county park, Coyote-Bear, surrounds the reservoir. It offers camping for RVs and tents, catch-and-release fishing, picnicking and hiking. Power boating, jet-skiing, water-skiing, sailing, canoeing and kayaking are all allowed on the lake. Swimming is not, by order of the water district.
The state has issued a safe eating advisory for fish caught in the lake because of elevated mercury, according to Wikipedia. Valley Water also posts inundation maps for a hypothetical failure of Coyote Dam on its reservoir page.