Lake Tahoe

Water renewal time 650 years

The approximately 497 km ² Lake Tahoe is a lake on the border of the U.S. states of Nevada and California. The lake was initially to 1862 Lake Bigler called in the 19th century, in honor of the third Governor of California, John Bigler. 1862 then the name Tahoe was introduced (after dá'aw for Washoe Lake), both names were used in parallel. Only since 1945, the lake is officially called Lake Tahoe.

Geography

The lake is located west of the 3317 m high Carson Range, an eastern part of the Sierra Nevada.

The lake is 501 meters, the second deepest and with a height of 1899.5 m also one of the highest lakes in the United States. While it is fed by 63 small streams and rivers, drained him of the Truckee River. The Lake Tahoe has an average depth of 301 m.

The Lake Tahoe has lost much of its former solitude by a long-standing and ongoing intensive development of its banks. Nevertheless, he is surrounded by pine forests in a romantic mountain scenery. He is known for his deep blue water surface appears. Along the shore of several state parks: In the northeast of Lake Tahoe - Nevada State Park, in the southwest of Emerald Bay State Park and DL Bliss State Park and in the west of the Sugar Pine Point State Park.

Use as a reservoir

The Lake Tahoe or the upper part of the lake basin was part of the project Truckee - Carson Irrigation District ( TCID ) is transformed into a reservoir, which is also known as Lake Tahoe reservoir. In this regard, a small dam was built at its outflow in Tahoe City on the Truckee River, behind which there is a less than 1 km ² has large reservoir with up to 3 m developed storage level.

Sea Monster

Much like Nessie in Loch Ness to live in Lake Tahoe is also a crypto- zoological sea monster named Tessie.