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Lake Lahontan | |
---|---|
Location | Lyon / Churchill counties, Nevada |
Coordinates | 39°24′06″N119°06′49″W / 39.40167°N 119.11361°W |
Lake type | reservoir |
Primary inflows | Carson River |
Primary outflows | Carson River |
Basin countries | United States |
Max. length | 17 mi (27 km) |
Modern Lake Lahontan is a reservoir on the Carson River in northwest Nevada in the United States. It is formed by the Lahontan Dam, built in 1905 by the Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Newlands Reclamation Act and is located between Fallon, Nevada and Carson City, Nevada. The flows from the Carson River are augmented by the diversions from the Truckee River. The reservoir is maintained by the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District (TCID). The lake is named after ancient Lake Lahontan, which covered much of northwestern Nevada during the last ice age.
Lake Lahontan is 17 miles (27 km) long and has 69 miles (111 km) of shoreline. It consists of several lobes connected by narrow straits. When full, it has approximately 10,000 acres (40 km2) of surface area, although it is usually less than half full by late summer. As no water rights have been allocated for recreation, the TCID could completely drain the lake to supply its irrigation customers. Submerged beneath the water were parts of stagecoach routes which existed during the 1800s including Williams Station, the scene of the Battle of Williams Station, a minor skirmish during the Paiute War.
A small settlement called "Lahontan" once stood near the reservoir, which in 1940 the Federal Writers' Project reported had a population of 25. [1]
The lake sits within the Lahontan State Recreation Area. Recreational uses include fishing, pleasure boating and camping. Much of the shoreline is sandy and makes for good camping. As it is contaminated with mercury from the Comstock and other mines, consumption of fish from the lake should be limited as per posted guidelines. Primary game fish include wipers (white bass x striper hybrid), white bass, walleye, channel catfish, white catfish, largemouth bass, spotted bass, and crappie. It is stocked with walleye fry and fingerling wipers nearly every year. The best fishing occurs from April through July and October. [2]
The Carson River enters the lake at its southwestern end. The lake is very shallow there, and the shoreline can vary drastically as the lake empties and fills. The Derby Dam diverts part of the Truckee River into the Truckee Canal which enters the lake at the northeastern end, [3] immediately adjacent to the Lahontan dam.
During the 2017 California floods, the highest inflow in history filled the lake, and a weir was made to handle outflow. Oversized culverts were quickly put under US95 and lined with ripraps to let the water cross the road and protect Fallon from flooding. [4]
Pyramid Lake is the geographic sink of the basin of the Truckee River, 40 mi (64 km) northeast of Reno, Nevada, United States.
The Truckee–Carson Irrigation District (TCID) is a political subdivision of the State of Nevada, which operates dams at Lake Tahoe, diversion dams on the Truckee River in Washoe County, and the Lake Lahontan reservoir.
Derby Dam is a diversion dam built from 1903 to 1905 on the Truckee River, located about 20 miles (32 km) east of Reno in Storey and Washoe counties in Nevada, United States. It diverts water into the Truckee Canal that would otherwise enter Pyramid Lake. The canal feeds Lake Lahontan reservoir in the Carson River watershed, where it is used for irrigation.
The Salt River is a river in Gila and Maricopa counties in Arizona, United States, that is the largest tributary of the Gila River. The river is about 200 miles (320 km) long. Its drainage basin is about 13,700 square miles (35,000 km2) large. The longest of the Salt River's many tributaries is the 195-mile (314 km) Verde River. The Salt's headwaters tributaries, the Black River and East Fork, increase the river's total length to about 300 miles (480 km). The name Salt River comes from the fact that the river flows over large salt deposits shortly after the merging of the White and Black Rivers.
The Truckee River is a river in the U.S. states of California and Nevada. The river flows northeasterly and is 121 miles (195 km) long. The Truckee is the sole outlet of Lake Tahoe and drains part of the high Sierra Nevada, emptying into Pyramid Lake in the Great Basin. Its waters are an important source of irrigation along its valley and adjacent valleys.
The Carson River is a northwestern Nevada river that empties into the Carson Sink, an endorheic basin. The main stem of the river is 131 miles (211 km) long although the addition of the East Fork makes the total length 205 miles (330 km), traversing five counties: Alpine County in California and Douglas, Storey, Lyon, and Churchill Counties in Nevada, as well as the Consolidated Municipality of Carson City, Nevada. The river is named for Kit Carson, who guided John C. Frémont's expedition westward up the Carson Valley and across Carson Pass in winter, 1844. The river made the National Priorities List (NPL) on October 30, 1990 as the Carson River Mercury Superfund site (CRMS) due to investigations that showed trace amounts of mercury in the wildlife and watershed sediments.
The Lahontan Dam is a dam situated on the Carson River in the Carson Desert between Carson City, Nevada and Fallon, Nevada in the United States. Its impoundment is known as the Lahontan Reservoir or Lake Lahontan. It is currently operated by the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District.
Rye Patch State Recreation Area is a 2,400-acre (970 ha) state park unit of Nevada, United States, adjoining Rye Patch Reservoir, an 11,000-acre (4,500 ha) impoundment on the Humboldt River, and the smaller Pitt-Taylor Reservoirs. The recreation area is located at the end of State Route 401, which connects to Interstate 80/U.S. Route 95 about 22 miles (35 km) northeast of Lovelock.
Lahontan State Recreation Area is a public recreation area surrounding Lake Lahontan, a 17-mile-long (27 km) impoundment of the Carson River, located approximately 18 miles (29 km) west of Fallon, Nevada. The reservoir features 69 miles (111 km) of shoreline and 11,200 acres (4,500 ha) of water when full. Much of the park lies below 4,000 feet (1,200 m) in elevation and is dominated by high desert sagebrush. Wooded areas of native cottonwoods and willow trees can be found along the shore of the lake. Primary access points to the park are along U.S. Route 50 near the Lahontan Dam and off U.S. Route 95 in the town of Silver Springs. A corridor known as Carson River Ranches connects Lahontan with Fort Churchill State Historic Park.
Lahontan cutthroat trout is the largest subspecies of cutthroat trout, and the state fish of Nevada. It is one of three subspecies of cutthroat trout that are listed as federally threatened.
The Central Utah Project is a US federal water project that was authorized for construction under the Colorado River Storage Project Act of April 11, 1956, as a participating project. In general, the Central Utah Project develops a portion of Utah's share of the yield of the Colorado River, as set out in the Colorado River Compact of 1922.
The Lahontan Valley is a basin in Churchill County, Nevada, United States. The valley is a landform of the central portion of the prehistoric Lake Lahontan's lakebed of 20,000-9,000 years ago. The valley and the adjacent Carson Sink represent a small portion of the lake bed. Humboldt Lake is to the valley's northeast. Pyramid Lake is west. Walker Lake is to the south. The valley is part of the larger Great Basin Desert, however during the California Gold Rush the valley was often called the Forty Mile Desert.
Lake Pueblo State Park is a state park located in Pueblo County, Colorado. It includes 60 miles (97 km) of shoreline and 10,000 acres (40 km2) of land. Activities it offers include two full-service marinas, recreational fishing, hiking, camping and swimming at a special swim beach.
Keith Sebelius Lake, formerly known as Norton Reservoir, is a man-made reservoir on Prairie Dog Creek in northwest Kansas. Built and managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, it is used for flood control, irrigation, recreation, and local water supply. Prairie Dog State Park is located on its shore.
Lovewell Reservoir is a reservoir in Jewell County, Kansas, United States. Built and managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, it is used for flood control, irrigation, and recreation. Lovewell State Park is located on its north shore.
Webster Reservoir is a reservoir in Rooks County, Kansas, United States. Built and managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, it is used for flood control, irrigation, and recreation. Webster State Park is located on its shore.
Red Willow Dam is a dam in Frontier County, Nebraska, about ten miles northwest of McCook.
Virginia Smith Dam is a dam in Garfield County, Nebraska, about five miles northwest of Burwell.
Lake Tahoe Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Truckee River, at the outlet of Lake Tahoe in Placer County, California.
Angostura Dam is an embankment dam across the Cheyenne River in Fall River County in southwestern South Dakota in the United States, about 75 miles (121 km) south of Rapid City. The dam consists of an earth-fill embankment with a concrete spillway section, 193 feet (59 m) high and 2,030 feet (620 m) long; it withholds the 195,121-acre-foot (0.240678 km3) Angostura Reservoir. The dam was conceived as early as 1913, but it was not until the 1930s when a regional drought caused crop failures that the project received widespread support from farmers. Built from 1946 to 1949, the dam is part of the Angostura Division of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, and is operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.