Pyramid Lake (Nevada)
| Pyramid Lake | |
|---|---|
The tufa formation that gives Pyramid Lake its name.
|
|
 Pyramid Lake
Location in Nevada
|
|
| Location | Washoe County, Nevada, United States |
| Coordinates | 40°03′44.64″N 119°33′48.6″W / 40.0624000°N 119.563500°W |
| Lake type | endorheic salt lake |
| Etymology | pyramidal limestone columns |
| Primary inflows | Truckee River |
| Catchment area | 1,825.78 sq mi (4,728.7 km2) |
| Max. length | 29.8 mi (48.0 km) |
| Max. width | 8.7 mi (14.0 km) |
| Surface area | 188 sq mi (490 km2) |
| Max. depth | 356 ft (109 m) |
| Water volume | 23,660,000 acre feet (29.18 km3) |
| Surface elevation | 3,796 ft (1,157 m) (1980 data) |
| References |
GNIS ID: 856349 |
| Reference no. | 18 |
GNIS ID: 856349
Pyramid Lake is the geographic sink of the Truckee River Basin, 40 mi (64 km) northeast of Reno.
Pyramid Lake is fed by the Truckee River, which is mostly the outflow from Lake Tahoe. The Truckee River enters Pyramid Lake at its southern end. Pyramid Lake has no outlet, with water leaving only by evaporation, or sub-surface seepage (an endorheic lake). The lake has about 10% of the area of the Great Salt Lake, but it has about 25% more volume. The salinity is approximately 1/6 that of sea water. Although clear Lake Tahoe forms the headwaters that drain to Pyramid Lake, the Truckee River delivers more turbid waters to Pyramid Lake after traversing the steep Sierra terrain and collecting moderately high silt-loaded surface runoff.
A remnant of the Lake Lahontan (~890 feet deep), the lake area was inhabited by the 19th-century Paiute, who used the Tui chub and Lahontan cutthroat trout from the lake (the former is now endangered and the latter is threatened). The lake was first mapped in 1844 by John C. Frémont, the American discoverer of the lake who also gave it its English title.
In the 19th century two battles were fought near the lake, major actions in the Paiute War. In the 1960s a marker was placed commemorating these battles.
Because of water diversion beginning in 1905 by Derby Dam, the lake's existence was threatened, and the Paiute sued the Department of the Interior. By the mid-1970s, the lake had lost 80 feet of depth, and according to Paiute fisheries officials, the life of the lake was seriously under threat. In the opinion of John Pilger, the irrigation scheme for which water was diverted was an economic failure.
...
Wikipedia