Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain (pronounced /ˈpɒntʃətreɪn/ in English; Lac Pontchartrain, IPA [lak pɔ̃ʃaʀtʀɛ̃] in French) is a brackish lake in southeastern Louisiana. It is the second largest salt-water lake in the United States, after the Great Salt Lake in Utah, and the largest lake in Louisiana.
| Lake Pontchartrain | |
|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 30°12′22″N 90°06′08″W / 30.206055°N 90.102132°WCoordinates: 30°12′22″N 90°06′08″W / 30.206055°N 90.102132°W |
| Lake type | salt-water lake |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 630 sq mi (1630 km²) |
| Settlements | New Orleans, Metairie, Kenner, Mandeville, Slidell, Madisonville, etc. |
It has an area of 630 square miles (1630 square km) with an average depth of 12 to 14 feet (about 4 meters). Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about 40 miles (64 km) wide and 24 miles (39 km) from south to north.
Lake Pontchartrain Media
Lake Pontchartrain from southbound causeway entrance
Lake Pontchartrain's north shore at Fontainebleau State Park near Mandeville, Louisiana, in 2004
At the southern terminus of LA 1077 in Madisonville, this lighthouse is on the west estuary of the Tchefuncte River at Lake Pontchartrain and was constructed in 1837.
Lake Pontchartrain at New Orleans during Hurricane Georges in 1998; lakefront fishing camps outside of the protection levee suffered severe damage.
Windspeed of Hurricane Katrina 7 a.m., showing hurricane-force winds (yellow/brown/red: 75-92 mph) hitting the northeast–south shores of Lake Pontchartrain (1 hour after landfall) on August 29, 2005.
Windspeed of Hurricane Katrina 10 a.m., showing hurricane-force winds (yellow/brown) still hitting the north–southeast shores of Lake Pontchartrain (4 hours after landfall)
Other websites
- Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation
- United States Geological Survey Lake Pontchartrain Fact Sheet
- Real-time water data for Lake Pontchartrain
- The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation
- New Orleans history of the lake
- Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum[dead link]
- USGS Environmental Atlas of Lake Pontchartrain
- New Orleans District Water Management Archived 2005-09-07 at the Wayback Machine
- Washington Post article alleging levee faults, 21 Sept 2005
- National Geographic article about the levees, 2 Sept. 2005
- Salon article about disaster predictions, 31 Aug 2005[dead link]
- U.S. Geological Survey article about the Lake Pontchartrain Basin, 3 Nov 1995
- BBC article about environmental effects on the lake after the flooding of New Orleans, 8 Sept. 2005
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