Lake Merced
Lake Merced | |
---|---|
San Francisco) | |
Location | San Francisco |
Area | 614 acres (2.48 km2; 0.96 sq mi) |
Created | 1940s |
Status | Open all year |
Lake Merced (
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has developed a safe eating advisory for Lake Merced based on levels of mercury found in fish caught from this water body.[2]
History
Lake Merced was originally christened Laguna de Nuestra Señora de la Merced by
At approximately 11pm of November 22, 1852, a shock was reported to have occurred by those in the areas around the Lake[5] and the following day reports were made that "...a fissure half a mile wide and three hundred yards long was discovered, through which the waters of Lake Merced were flowing to the sea." The most probable cause of the shock was attributed to heavy rains forcing a passage through the sandbank at the north-west. The Lake is reported to have lost 30 feet (9.1 meters) of water. A map from 1881 shows that the Lake still had a passage to sea, 29 years later.[6]
Once owned by
Ecology
The lake is fed by an underground spring, and at one time it did have an outlet to the ocean as shown on an 1869 United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Map.[3] The salt level was always fluctuating, and therefore some species of fish which inhabit the lake are salt and freshwater adapted.[citation needed] There is active recreational fishing at the lake. The lake's water level had been shrinking for decades, endangering the historic role of Lake Merced to support a healthy ecosystem.[8] Due to better management of the aquifer and occasional additions of water, lake level has been rising since 1990.[9] The only natural freshwater lakes in San Francisco are Pine Lake, Lake Merced, and Mountain Lake.[10]
Famous duel
On September 13, 1859, Chief Justice of the
See also
- 49-Mile Scenic Drive
- List of lakes in the San Francisco Bay Area
- Rancho Laguna de la Merced
References
- SFSU. Retrieved 2023-11-12.
- ^ Pham, Huyen Tran (2017-06-26). "Lake Merced". OEHHA. Retrieved 2018-06-13.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-884995-35-4.
- ^ Pedro Font. Expanded Diary of Pedro Font. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2011-01-30.
- ^ Youd, T. L.; Hoose, S. N. (1978). "Historic Ground Failures in Northern California Triggered by Earthquakes" (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
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(help) - ^ "Bancroft's Official Guide Map Of City And County Of San Francisco. - David Rumsey Historical Map Collection".
- ^ Sara Marcellino; Brandon Jebens (24 May 2001). "The History of Human Use at Lake Merced". San Francisco State University. Archived from the original on 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2013-09-18.
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(help) - ^ Vivian Matuk; Nick Salcedo (17 July 2001). "Lake Merced Hydrology and Water Quality". San Francisco State University. Archived from the original on 2019-05-13. Retrieved 2012-10-09.
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(help) - ^ "Lake Merced Level Fluctuations". 2016-03-04. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
- ^ Marcellino, Sara (April 1, 2003). "San Francisco Lakes -". Bay Nature. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
- ^ Hittell, Theodore Henry (1898). "History of California". iv. San Francisco, California: N. J. Stone & Company: 224.
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