California’s lingering drought has lowered the water level in Castaic Lake so dramatically that authorities said a fisherman on Thursday recovered a badge and handgun that a federal agent lost in the lake nearly 22 years ago.

Sheriff’s detectives say the water level at Castaic is down about 151 feet and that the shallow water finally exposed a backpack containing the gun and badge.

“We knew it’d been there a while when we saw an old pager,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Johnny Jones.

Deputies said they were able to track down the agent, who works with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.


The agent told deputies that he and a friend from the Los Angeles County Probation Office spent a day at Castaic Lake in 1992. The agent said he put all of his valuables and police gear into a backpack before the two got into their boat.

But the backpack was lost overboard.

The agent told deputies he’d received a lot of grief from peers about losing the items.

Follow Southern California crime @lacrimes