MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- As the summer warms up and kicks into high gear, more and more servicemembers are spending relaxing time outside with friends and family.

For an enjoyable weekend or just a short trip for some recreation during well-deserved time off from duty, San Diego City Lakes provide a wide range of outdoor activities for San Diego area servicemembers, sometimes within a few minutes drive from home.

San Diego City Lakes are actually the impounding reservoirs that make up the City of San Diego's municipal water supply system.

The City of San Diego has offered the public recreational use of the reservoirs since 1913, and is widely recognized as a pioneer in multiple, recreational use of water supply reservoirs, said Sharon Smith, lakes office manager, City of San Diego.

The lakes offer a relaxing place to enjoy many seasonal outdoor activities including hunting, fishing and boating.

The City Lakes Program has nine lakes in the San Diego area for recreational use: Barret, El Capitan, Hodges, Murray, Lower and Upper Otay, San Vincente, Sutherland and Miramar, added Smith.

Closest to Marines and Sailors at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar is Lake Miramar, operated by the City of San Diego Water Department.

Lake Miramar is temporarily closed for boating and fishing only until work on the water reclamation plant adjacent to the lake is completed in early July," said Smith. "However, the lake is open from December through September seven days a week from sunrise to sunset for things like picnicking, walking, jogging bicycling or rollerblading. Boating and fishing will resume once the construction is completed, and the schedule for fishing is Saturday through Tuesday when the lake is open."

The 180-acre lake, built from 1959 to 1960, has a 3.5-mile trail that encircles most of the lake, which is stocked with a variety of fish, including channel catfish, bluegill, rainbow trout and bass, Smith said.

"Some of the fish are quite large, in fact people have caught bass and catfish weighing more than 20 pounds," explained Smith. "When Lake Miramar reopens for boating and fishing, there will be motorboats, rowboats, canoes and paddleboats available for rent at the lake concessions, but swimming in the lake is not permitted."

Lake Miramar lies just east of route 15 off of Mira Mesa Boulevard and Scripps Ranch Boulevard.

For more information on Lake Miramar or any of the other San Diego City Lakes, call the City Lakes Office at (619) 668-2050 or visit www.sandiego.gov or www.ci.san-diego.ca.us/water/recreation/index.shtml.