Washoe Lake

Washoe Lake
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Washoe Lake, with Slide Mt. and the Carson Range in the background.
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Washoe Lake
Location in Nevada
LocationWashoe County, Nevada
Coordinates39°16′06″N 119°48′03″W / 39.26833°N 119.80083°W / 39.26833; -119.80083 [2]
Primary inflowsseveral small streams
Primary outflowsSteamboat Creek
Basin countriesUnited States
Max. depth12 ft (3.7 m)
Surface elevation5,029 ft (1,533 m)
Washoe Lake and storm, 2011

Washoe Lake (Washo: c'óʔyaʔ dáʔaw)[3] is a lake located near Carson City in the Washoe Valley of Washoe County, Nevada. It is a very shallow lake with a surface area that can vary greatly from year to year. Washoe Lake State Park sits on the lake's southeastern shore.[4]

Washoe Lake is a eutrophic, shallow lake between Reno and Carson City and just east of the much larger Lake Tahoe. The lake reaches a maximum depth of just 12 feet (3.7 m). The shallowness and the high winds make the lake very turbid. Extensive droughts in the past have caused the lake to dry up entirely, most recently in 1992, 1994, and 2004.[5]

Washoe Lake is a warm water fishery and provides a habitat for non-native Sacramento perch, white bass, channel catfish, brown bullhead and carp. The lake has been stocked by the Nevada Division of Wildlife since 2004 when Washoe Lake last dried up. Two boat launches are on the eastern shore of the lake within Washoe Lake State Park.[5]

The lake provides habitat for a variety of birds. There are hundreds of migratory and resident species in Washoe Lake State Park. Pelicans, night and great blue herons can be found on the waters of the lake.[4]

  1. ^ Ginny Bengston (2002). "Northern Paiute and Western Shoshone Land Use in Northern Nevada: A Class I Ethnographic/Ethnohistoric Overview". SWCA Environmental Consultants. p. 50. Retrieved 2022-12-31. https://www.blm.gov/sites/default/files/documents/files/Library_Nevada_CulturalResourceSeries12.pdf
  2. ^ "Washoe Lake". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  3. ^ "The Washo Project Online Dictionary". Retrieved 2012-05-27.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference nsp was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference ndow was invoked but never defined (see the help page).