Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Vista del Lago Visitors a Drop in Bucket : Castaic: Information center has not attracted numbers expected, and many took the water tour only by chance.

PYRAMID LAKE — An $8-million information center touting California’s elaborate system to transport, store and distribute water has drawn far fewer than the 200,000 to 250,000 visitors expected in its first year.

In light of grand projections when the Vista del Lago Visitor Center opened in November, 1993, above the Golden State Freeway, the 123,900 people who toured it in 1994 are a disappointment to state water officials. And the poor attendance has them wondering how to tap an audience beyond wayward drivers in search of a pay telephone or a restroom.

Vista del Lago boasts professional videos, wall-sized displays and interactive exhibits all about water. Patrons can watch an aerial tour of State Water Project pipelines, stand in a replica of the 13-foot-high pipes that pump 1.25-million gallons per minute into San Bernardino County or learn how much water it takes to produce such everyday things as an egg--63 gallons--or an eight-ounce steak--1,232 gallons.

Admission to the 18,500-square-foot, Spanish Mediterranean-style building is free.

Officials with the California Department of Water Resources--which paid for the center and provides its annual budget--blame the low turnout on the hazards of the center’s Golden State Freeway location.

Attendance figures “are about a third less than was expected,” said Jerry Reynolds, the center’s tour director. “But those people doing the projections didn’t figure on the earthquake.”

Southern California residents could not reach the center for weeks after the Northridge earthquake because of highway damage, said Chuck Keene, chief of recreation and environmental studies for the state water department’s regional office in Glendale. Travelers also have been discouraged by poor weather conditions ranging from rain to fog, he said.

Although Vista del Lago hosts tours by school classes, senior centers and other organizations, its most common group of visitors are not there intentionally.

“More people are coming in off the highway for roadside assistance than anything else,” Keene said. “After they’ve taken care of their immediate problem, they’ve stayed. Which is fine, but we didn’t expect to be such a (stopover for) roadside assistance.”

Water officials hope to attract more traditional tourists by placing advertisements in travel magazines, distributing posters in area communities and contacting school groups. Also being considered are billboards on the Golden State Freeway and radio ads, Keene said.

Officials say they are satisfied with the turnout, considering the circumstances.

Since Vista del Lago tours are free, the center’s budget and staffing level--three full-time employees from the State Department of Water Resources and one from the U.S. Forest Service--are not contingent upon its success as a tourist draw.

“It’s not a revenue-generating type of facility. It’s really not visitor-sensitive in that sense,” Keene said. “It’s important to get the word out about the water project and about the water issues in their lives.”

Meanwhile, interest in the center seems to be growing on its own.

Vista del Lago recorded its highest, single-day attendance mark during the final week of December, when 1,367 people visited the center the day after Christmas. The trend is strong enough that Keene is predicting attendance figures in 1995 should be 30% to 40% higher than in 1994.

“The use has been gradually increasing and is reaching levels we had anticipated,” Keene said.

Even with fewer visitors than expected, Vista del Lago beats other similar centers across the state. The centers at the San Luis Reservoir and Oroville, along with the Castaic center that Vista del Lago replaced, attracted a cumulative average of 125,000 to 150,000 visitors per year, Keene said.