Originally built in the 1860s as a reservoir for drinking water, today Echo Park Lake is a Los Angeles icon that functions primarily as a detention basin in the city's storm drain system, while providing recreational benefits and wildlife habitat.

Echo Park Lake also hosts community events, such as the annual Lotus Festival every July.

[3] In 1891 the four owners of the surrounding area gave up 33 acres (13 ha) of land to the city around the reservoir so that it could be used as a park.

[3] By the late 1910s, motion picture companies on Allesandro Street, now Glendale Boulevard, had been using the park as a filming location.

[3] In 2006, the state of California identified Echo Park Lake as an impaired body of water, and the city allocated $64.7 million in 2010 to fund its cleanup and revitalization.

The rehabilitation project tackled Echo Park Lake not only as a recreational body of water, but also as an important part of the Los Angeles ecosystem.

[7] Starting in November 2019, a growing population of homeless people began moving into tents throughout the park, eventually covering the northwest corner of the facility and the entire west bank by the lake.

Closure notices were posted throughout the park days before the sweep, but a crowd of over 200 protesters met LAPD.

[9][14] 183 people experiencing homelessness at Echo Park Lake were successfully moved into transitional housing.