Lake Nicaragua

Coordinates: 11°37′N 85°21′W / 11.617°N 85.350°W / 11.617; -85.350
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Mar Dulce" redirects here. For the album, see Mar dulce. For estuary of the Amazon, see Amazon River.
Lake Nicaragua
San Jorge

Lake Nicaragua or Cocibolca or Granada (

freshwater lake in Nicaragua. Of tectonic origin and with an area of 8,264 km2 (3,191 sq mi), it is the largest lake in Central America,[2] the 19th largest lake in the world (by area) and the tenth largest in the Americas, slightly smaller than Lake Titicaca. With an elevation of 32.7 metres (107 ft) above sea level, the lake reaches a depth of 26 metres (85 ft). It is intermittently joined by the Tipitapa River to Lake Managua
.

The lake drains via the

Rivas. Plans were made to take advantage of this route to build an interoceanic canal, the Nicaragua Canal, but the Panama Canal was built instead. In order to quell competition with the Panama Canal, the U.S. secured all rights to a canal along this route in the Bryan–Chamorro Treaty of 1916. However, since this treaty was mutually rescinded by the United States and Nicaragua in 1970, the idea of another canal in Nicaragua still periodically resurfaced, such as the Ecocanal proposal. In 2014, the government of Nicaragua offered a 50-year concession to the Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Company (HKND) to build a canal across Nicaragua at a cost of US$40 billion, with construction beginning in December 2014 and completing in 2019.[4] Protests against the ecological and social effects of the canal as well as questions about financing have led to doubts about the project.[5]

Lake ecology

Lake Nicaragua, despite being a freshwater lake, has

resistance, they are potentially a serious threat to the lake's ecosystem.[11]

The nation's largest source of freshwater, Nicaraguans call it Lago Cocibolca or Mar Dulce (literally "Sweet Sea"; in Spanish, "freshwater" is agua dulce). The lake has sizeable waves driven by the easterly winds blowing west to the Pacific Ocean. The lake holds Ometepe and Zapatera, which are both volcanic islands, as well as the archipelago of the Solentiname Islands. The lake has a reputation for periodically powerful storms.[12]

In the past 37 years, considerable concern has been expressed about the ecological condition of Lake Nicaragua. In 1981 the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA) conducted an environmental assessment study and found that half of the water sources sampled were seriously polluted by sewage. It was found that 32 tons (70,000 pounds) of raw sewage were being released into Lake Nicaragua daily. Industry located along the lake's shore had been dumping effluent for an extended period of time. Pennwalt Chemical Corporation was found to be the worst polluter. Nicaragua's economic situation has hampered the building of treatment facilities nationwide (see: Water supply and sanitation in Nicaragua).

The country's worst drought in 32 years took its toll on the lake in 2014; the Nicaraguan government recommended citizens to raise and eat iguanas over chickens to reduce water consumption.[13] Also, plans for the Nicaragua Canal through the lake could lead to saltwater and other contamination during construction and operation of the canal.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ Salvador Montenegro-Guillén (2003). "Lake Cocibolca/Nicaragua" (PDF). Lake Basin Management Initiative: Experience and Lessons Learned Brief. LBMI Regional Workshop for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas. Saint Michael's College, Colchester, Vermont. pp. 1–29. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  2. ^ a b "Cocibolca (Nicaragua)". LakeNet. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  3. ^ "History of Granada: The oldest city in Central America". Granada Nicaragua. Archived from the original on 2019-03-29. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  4. ^ Oakland Ross, "Nicaragua-Chinese partnership announces planned route for proposed inter-oceanic canal" Archived 2014-09-03 at the Wayback Machine, The World Daily Blog (thestar.com), Jul 14 2014. Accessed Oct 27, 2014.
  5. ^ W. Alejandro Sanchez, "Protests against Nicaragua’s ambitious canal", voxxi.com, Oct 26, 2014.
  6. ^ a b Fresh Waters: Unexpected Haunts. elasmo-research.org. Accessed 2008-04-06.
  7. ISBN 0-00-713610-2
  8. ^ Crist, R. 2002. Carcharhinus leucas. Animal Diversity Web. Accessed 2008-04-06
  9. ^ Homziak, Jurij. CAFTA Interim Environmental Review – Lake Nicaragua Archived 2017-11-13 at the Wayback Machine. lasuerte.org. Accessed 2008-04-06
  10. ^ Colodney, D: The Cichlids of Lake Nicaragua – Part I. Archived 2014-12-26 at the Wayback Machine Badman's Tropical Fish. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  11. ^ Lake Nicaragua. vianica.com. Accessed 2008-04-06
  12. ^ "Lake Nicaragua sharks". FactRepublic.com. 2019-10-06. Retrieved 2024-04-07.
  13. ^ "Gobierno de Nicaragua recomienda criar iguanas para enfrentar sequía - DiarioLibre.com". www.diariolibre.com. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Nicaragua Canal Poses Significant Environmental Risks | Hanover to Nicaragua". journeys.dartmouth.edu. Retrieved 2024-04-07.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lake Nicaragua.
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