Lake Enriquillo

Lake Enriquillo
Viewed from space, northeast to southwest, September 1993
Coordinates	18°30′N 71°35′W / 18.500°N 71.583°W / 18.500; -71.583Coordinates: 18°30′N 71°35′W / 18.500°N 71.583°W / 18.500; -71.583
Type	saline lake
Primary inflows	Yaque del Sur
Primary outflows	evaporation
Basin countries	Dominican Republic
Surface area	375 km2 (145 sq mi)
Max. depth	52 m (171 ft)
Surface elevation	−27 m (−89 ft)
Islands	Isla Cabritos (Two former islands submerged by December 2011)
Settlements	Boca de Cachón, La Descubierta, Postrer Río, Neyba, Duvergé, Jimaní

Lake Enriquillo (Spanish: Lago Enriquillo) is a hypersaline lake in the Dominican Republic located in the southwestern region of the country. Its waters are shared between the provinces of Bahoruco and Independencia, the latter of which borders Haiti. Lake Enriquillo is the largest lake and the lowest elevation in the Caribbean.

Lake Enriquillo covers an area of 145 mi² (375 km²), and is the lowest point in the Caribbean, falling 148 feet (45 m) below sea level. Its drainage basin includes 10 minor river systems. The rivers that rise in the Neiba Mountains to the north (lower center and lower right of the image) are perennial. Those rivers that rise in the Baoruco Mountains to the south are intermittent. Lake Enriquillo has no outlet. The lake's water level varies because of a combination of storm-driven precipitation events and the region's high evaporation rate. Salinity in the lake can vary between 33 parts per thousand (comparable to seawater) and over 100 parts per thousand (hypersaline).

The region has a hot, semiarid climate. Annual rainfall is not evenly distributed, with peak precipitation occurring in May and October. The dry season is December through April when rainfall may be less than 20 mm (0.79 in). Due to the length of the lake, annual rainfall averages also vary at the eastern and western ends: 729 mm (28.7 in) on the northwest shore, and 508 mm (20.0 in) in the southeast.

Between 2004 and 2009, the lake doubled its surface area. Records for 2004 show the lake to be 164 square kilometres (63 sq mi); measurements from 2011 put the area at 350 km² (140 sq mi).

Reasons for the flooding are being debated, but may be a combination of several, including increases in rainfall in the region in recent years, increase of sediments going into the lake from run-off due to deforestation that are contributing to raising the lakebed, and milder temperatures, which are reducing the surface evaporation rate.