Lacamas Lake
| Lacamas Lake | |
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South side
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 Lacamas Lake
Location in Washington
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| Location | Clark County, Washington |
| Coordinates | 45°37′N 122°26′W / 45.62°N 122.43°WCoordinates: 45°37′N 122°26′W / 45.62°N 122.43°W |
| Type | reservoir |
| Catchment area | 67 sq mi (170 km2) |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 2.4 mi (3.9 km) |
| Max. width | Less than 0.25 mi (0.40 km) |
| Max. depth | 60 ft (18 m) |
| Surface elevation | 187 ft (57 m) |
| Settlements | Camas, WA |
Lacamas Lake is a small lake in Clark County, Washington. It is a popular place to fish and water ski for locals from Vancouver, Camas and Washougal. It connects to Round Lake via a channel that runs under the SR 500 bridge on the southeast side of the lake. In the 1990s many high tech manufacturing plants and expensive housing developments began to appear in the area around the lake. The lake is very warm compared to other lakes in the area and the temperature can drop off quickly with depth. As it is now, the 60-foot-deep (18 m) lake cannot support life below about 18 ft (5.5 m) (see Dead Zone). The Georgia-Pacific Mill in Camas draws water from the lake to support its operations.
The Lacamas Lake Dam was constructed at the south end of Round Lake in 1883. This raised the water level of both lakes by approximately 12 ft (3.7 m).
The 43,000 acres (170 km2) around Lacamas Lake and Round Lake collect precipitation and form the Lacamas Creek which feeds into both lakes. This area is mostly large open fields and private farm or ranch land. The resulting runoff contains high levels of fertilizers which leads to nutrient abundance in both lakes. This nutrient abundance has caused plant overgrowth and algae problems. Consequently only a few fish species are able to live in either lake ( brown trout, rainbow trout, largemouth bass, bluegill, crappie, yellow perch, catfish and sturgeon). The government considers the lake to be eutrophic.
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Wikipedia