Kalamalka Lake

Kalamalka Lake
Kalamalka Lake
Location	Southern Central British Columbia
Coordinates	50°10′25″N 119°19′48″W / 50.17361°N 119.33000°W / 50.17361; -119.33000
Lake type	Glacial Lake
Primary inflows	Coldstream Creek, Vernon Creek, Oyama Creek
Primary outflows	Vernon Creek
Basin countries	Canada
Max. length	16 km (52,000 ft)
Max. width	3 km (9,800 ft)
Surface area	25.7 km2 (9.9 sq mi)
Average depth	58.5 m (192 ft)
Max. depth	142 m (466 ft)
Water volume	1.5 km3 (0.36 cu mi)
Residence time	55.2 years
Shore length1	42.4 km (26.3 mi) (approx.)
Surface elevation	392 m (1,286 ft)
Settlements	Coldstream, Lake Country
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Kalamalka Lake (a.k.a. "Kal Lake") is a large lake in the interior plateau of southern central British Columbia, Canada, east of Okanagan Lake. The lake is located approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) south of the city of Vernon and is its main drinking water supply.^[1][2] The lake is named after the Okanagan (Okanogan U.S. spelling) First Nation chief who occupied its northern shores.

At different times of the year the colour of the lake can range from cyan to indigo, in different parts at the same time, earning the lake the moniker "lake of a thousand colours". The colour of the water is derived from light scattering, caused by the precipitation of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃).