Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain | |
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Location | Louisiana |
Coordinates | 30°11′20″N 90°06′05″W / 30.18889°N 90.10139°W |
Lake type | Estuary, saline |
Basin countries | United States |
Max. length | 40 mi (64 km) |
Max. width | 24 mi (39 km) |
Surface area | 630 sq mi (1630 km2) |
Average depth | 12–14 ft (3.7–4.3 m) |
Max. depth | 65 ft (20 m) |
Surface elevation | 1 ft (0.30 m) |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Lake_Pontchatrain_From_Southbound_Causeway_Entrance.jpg/220px-Lake_Pontchatrain_From_Southbound_Causeway_Entrance.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Lake_Pontchartrain.jpg/225px-Lake_Pontchartrain.jpg)
Lake Pontchartrain (
In descending order of area, the lake is located in parts of six Louisiana parishes: St. Tammany, Orleans, Jefferson, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, and Tangipahoa. The water boundaries were defined in 1979 (see list of parishes in Louisiana).
The lake is crossed by the
Toponymy
Lake Pontchartrain is named for
The name Pontchartrain itself comes from the place in France where Phélypeaux's château is situated. It is thought that this name originates from it being where a bridge (French: pont) crossed the river Mauldre on the ancient route from Lutèce to Chartres (chartrain).[citation needed]
Description
Lake Pontchartrain is an
Salinity in Lake Pontchartrain varies from negligible at the northern cusp west of Mandeville up to nearly half the salinity of seawater at its eastern bulge near Interstate 10. Lake Maurepas, a true freshwater lake, connects with Lake Pontchartrain on the west via Pass Manchac. The Industrial Canal connects the Mississippi River with the lake at New Orleans. Bonnet Carré Spillway diverts water from the Mississippi into the lake during times of river flooding.
History
The lake was formed 2,600 to 4,000 years ago as the evolving
Habitation increased rapidly with the arrival of Europeans; in 1699, French explorer
In 1777, the great American naturalist, William Bartram, explored the north shore during a trip west.[10] In 1852, a railroad was constructed to link New Orleans to the north. Engines turned at Pass Manchac. However, the pilings were burned to the water line in the Civil War.[11]
During the early 20th century, the great cypress swamps of the area were heavily logged and many have not regrown.[12][13][self-published source]
After over 30 years of oil drilling had yielded just 12 million barrels of oil and condensate and 119 billion cubic feet of natural gas, and caused major pollution of the lake, the State Mineral Board enacted a moratorium on oil drilling. As of 2009, there were 4 active wells continuing prior leases, and 25 derelict wells.[14] According to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) they and the US Coast Guard see at least one oil spill per day in Louisiana's wetlands.[14]: 6 Estuarine wetlands are among the highest on the Environmental sensitivity Index (ESI).[14]: 6
Conservation and restoration
Owing to past exploitation,[
The future of the lake depends, in part, on restoring annual spring floods to the wetlands of the lake basin and controlling urban sprawl on the north shore. Selected species, like the paddlefish and alligator snapping turtle, would benefit from reduced harvesting. The lake could change considerably without such conservation planning. As of 2007, a few examples of future change included more cypress swamps converting to anthropogenic marsh or open water, Chinese tallow displacing native forests, and, with a warming climate, mangrove trees replacing brackish marsh.[16] Hence, the ecosystems of the lake now, and in the future, depend very much upon some basic decisions about human activities in the vicinity of the lake, and, even more so, human activity upstream along the Mississippi River.
As of 2006, the population in the region was over 1.5 million. There have been many problems with the conservation management of forests and
Northshore
The area north of Lake Pontchartrain is known as the North Shore or the Northshore. It includes the cities of
.These three Northshore parishes are the eastern
Lake Pontchartrain's south shore areas (dominated by
New Orleans
New Orleans was established at a Native American
Hurricanes
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Lake_Pontchartrain_Georges.jpg/280px-Lake_Pontchartrain_Georges.jpg)
During
A
Experts using computer modeling at Louisiana State University after Hurricane Katrina have concluded that the levees were never topped but rather faulty design, inadequate construction, or some combination of the two were responsible for the flooding of most of New Orleans. Some canal walls leaked underneath because the wall foundations were not deep enough in peat-subsoil to withstand the pressure of higher water.[20]
Funding
Hurricane Katrina
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Hurricane_Katrina_winds_1200utc29Aug05_landfall_LA_1hr.gif/290px-Hurricane_Katrina_winds_1200utc29Aug05_landfall_LA_1hr.gif)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Hurricane_Katrina_winds_1500utc29Aug05_landfall_MS.gif/290px-Hurricane_Katrina_winds_1500utc29Aug05_landfall_MS.gif)
When Hurricane Katrina reached Category 5 in 2005, some experts predicted that the levee system might fail completely if the storm passed close to the city. Although Katrina weakened to a Category 3 before making landfall on August 29 (with only Category 1-2 strength winds in New Orleans on the weaker side of the eye of the hurricane), the outlying New Orleans East area along south Lake Pontchartrain was in the eyewall with winds, preceding the eye, nearly as strong as those experienced in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Canals near Chalmette began leaking at 8 am,[citation needed] and some levees/canals, designed to withstand Category 3 storms, suffered multiple breaks the following day (see Effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans), flooding 80% of the city.
The walls of the
There are indications that the soft earth and
Much of the northern sector of the suburban areas of Metairie and Kenner was flooded with up to 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 0.9 m) of water. In this area, flooding was not the result of levee overtopping but was due to a decision by the governmental administration of Jefferson Parish to abandon the levee-aligned drainage pumping stations.[24] This resulted in the reverse flow of lake water through the pumping stations into drainage canals which subsequently overflowed, causing extensive flooding of the area between I-10 and the lakefront. When the pump operators were returned to their stations, water was drained out of Metairie and Kenner in less than a day.[citation needed]
On September 5, 2005, the Army Corps of Engineers started to fix levee breaches by dropping huge sandbags from
Aerial photography suggests that 25 billion US gallons (95,000,000 m3) of water covered New Orleans as of September 2, which equals about 2% of Lake Pontchartrain's volume.[
On September 24, 2005,
Notable deaths
- Eastern Air Lines Flight 304 crashed into the lake on February 25, 1964, resulting in the deaths of 51 passengers and 7 crew.
- On June 16, 1964, a Trailways bus plunged off the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway into Lake Pontchartrain, killing 6.[citation needed]
- On December 31, 1967, a chartered plane crashed into Lake Pontchartrain, killing 5 servicemen and the pilot.[citation needed]
- On September 15, 1978, six-year-old Benjamin Daly, along with the pilot, died when a private plane his parents had chartered crashed into the lake. His parents survived.[citation needed]
- On February 23, 1980, a twin-engine plane crashed into Lake Pontchartrain, killing 7.[citation needed]
- On January 15, 1981, a
- In 1986, a decomposing woman's body was found by two fishermen. The cause of death was homicide by asphyxia. She was not identified and no leads were ever identified in the case.[30]
- New England Patriots defensive end, New Orleans native, and former LSU star Marquise Hill was found dead in Lake Pontchartrain on May 28, 2007.[31]
- A
See also
- Lake Pontchartrain Causeway
- Bonnet Carré Spillway
- Tammany Trace Rail Trail
- Louisiana's 1st congressional district
- List of lakes of the United States
- "The Lakes of Pontchartrain"
References
- ^ "Oil from Gulf spill seeps into New Orleans' Lake Pontchartrain". The Associated Press. July 6, 2010.
Pontchartrain (pronounced PAHN-chuh-trayn)
[Respelled "ponch-a-train" in other sources] - ^ "Longest bridge over water (continuous)". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
- ^ "Power lines over Lake Pontchartrain elegantly demonstrate the curvature of Earth". ZME Science. 2017-07-27. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
- ^ "Lake Pontchartrain Historical Marker". Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism.
- ^ a b c Keddy, P.A., D. Campbell, T. McFalls, G. Shaffer, R. Moreau, C. Dranguet, and R. Heleniak. 2007. The wetlands of lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas: past, present, and future. Environmental Reviews 15: 1- 35.
- ^ Keddy, P.A., D. Campbell, T. McFalls, G. Shaffer, R. Moreau, C. Dranguet, and R. Heleniak. 2007. The wetlands of lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas: past, present, and future. Environmental Reviews 15: 1- 35. Table 2.
- ^ "Basin History". Pontchartrain Conservancy. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
- ^ "Environmental Atlas of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin". USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program. May 14, 2002. Retrieved 2006-06-15.
- ^ "HISTORY OF THE PONTCHARTRAIN BASIN". scienceforourcoast.org. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
- ^ Keddy, P.A., D. Campbell, T. McFalls, G. Shaffer, R. Moreau, C. Dranguet, and R. Heleniak. 2007. The wetlands of lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas: past, present and future. Environmental Reviews 15: 1-35.
- ^ Perrin, J.M. 2000. Home Town Ponchatoula. A Community History of Ponchatoula, Louisiana. Self-published. Ponchatoula, Louisiana.
- ^ Norgress, R. E. (1947). The history of the cypress lumber industry in Louisiana. Louisiana Historical Quarterly 30: 979–1059.
- ^ a b c Keddy, P.A. 2008. Water, Earth, Fire: Louisiana's Natural Heritage. Xlibris, Philadelphia. 229 p.[self-published source]
- ^ a b c "Moratorium on Oil and Gas Leasing In Lake Pontchartrain: An Analysis" (PDF). The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation. 2010.
- ^ Maygarden, D., and others. 2004. Conservation Area Plan for the Lake Pontchartrain Estuary. The Nature Conservancy, LA.
- ^ Keddy, P.A., D. Campbell, T. McFalls, G. Shaffer, R. Moreau, C. Dranguet, and R. Heleniak. 2007. The Wetlands of Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas: past, present, and future. Environmental Reviews 15: 1- 35. Fig. 21
- ^ Houck, O. 2006. Can we save New Orleans? Tulane Environmental Law Journal 19: 1–68.
- ^ Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p.
- ^ With "The Lake Pontchartrain Basin: Louisiana's Troubled Urban Estuary". U.S. Geological Survey. November 3, 1995. Archived from the original on June 3, 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-15.
- ^ Grunwall, Michael; Glasser, Susan B. (September 21, 2005). "Experts Say Faulty Levees Caused Much of Flooding". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2006-06-15.
- ^ Blumenthal, Sidney (August 31, 2005). "No one can say they didn't see it coming". Salon.com. Retrieved 2006-06-15.
- ^ Handwerk, Brian (September 2, 2005). "New Orleans Levees Not Built for Worst Case Events". National Geographic News. Archived from the original on September 5, 2005.
- ^ Grunwald, Michael; Glasser, Susan B. (September 21, 2005). "Experts Say Faulty Levees Caused Much of Flooding". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2006-06-15.
- ^ Broussard says he didn't send pump operators away - Kenner Bulletin - NOLA.com Archived 2008-04-29 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ USACE (September 2005). "Quick, coordinated efforts reduce environmental impact on Lake Pontchartrain". usace.army.mil. Archived from the original on May 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
- ^ "A twin-engine plane carrying three people on a flight from Nebraska crashed into Lake Pontchartrain in heavy fog Thursday while on approach to New Orleans Lakefront Airport". www.upi.com/archives. January 15, 1981. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
- ^ "Plane crashes into lake in heavy fog". www.upi.com/archives. 1981-01-16.
- ^ "Three Killed in Crash of a Plane In Lake Near New Orleans Field". New York Times. 1981-01-17.
- ^ "The Hornady Heritage and Vision".
- ^ "Body Discovered--Two Decade Mystery Begins". Sex-offenders.info. Retrieved 27 January 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Simpson, April; Levenson, Michael (May 29, 2007). "Patriot Hill is found dead". boston.com. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
- ^ "Navy pilot presumed dead after crash in Lake Pontchartrain". cnn.com. January 25, 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
- ^ Navy pilot's body found in Lake Pontchartrain, The Times-Picayune, January 27, 2010
Further reading
- Lake Pontchartrain, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7385-4392-5
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Lake Pontchartrain Visitors Guide
- Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation
- United States Geological Survey Lake Pontchartrain Fact Sheet
- Real-time water data for Lake Pontchartrain
- New Orleans history of the lake
- Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum
- USGS Environmental Atlas of Lake Pontchartrain
- New Orleans District Water Management
- Washington Post article alleging levee faults, 21 September 2005
- National Geographic article about the levees, 2 September 2005
- Salon article about disaster predictions, 31 August 2005
- U.S. Geological Survey article about the Lake Pontchartrain Basin, 3 November 1995
- BBC article about environmental effects on the lake after the flooding of New Orleans, 8 September 2005