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Physical
Lacamas Lake
Lacamas Lake is a small, warm lake in Clark County, Washington, popular for fishing and swimming but troubled by algae and oxygen-poor depths.
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The idea
Lacamas Lake is a small lake in Clark County, Washington. It is a popular place for locals from Vancouver, Camas and Washougal to fish and water ski, and swimming is popular in summer because the water is warm. The lake is 2.4 miles long and 60 feet deep, and a channel under the SR 500 bridge connects it to Round Lake.
Lacamas Creek feeds both lakes. It flows about 12.5 miles from its headwaters near Camp Bonneville, and its name comes from the native camas plant. Geologists believe the creek once flowed west through a different channel, until the Missoula Floods left a fan of sediment that turned it into the Lacamas Lake trough.
The lake has serious water quality problems. Rain that falls on the 43,000 acres of open fields, farms and ranches around it becomes runoff that carries fertilizer into the water. These extra nutrients feed thick algae, and because the deep water barely mixes, the bottom runs out of oxygen. As a result, the lake cannot support life below about 18 feet, and only a few kinds of fish, such as trout, bass, bluegill and perch, live there. Both Lacamas Lake and Round Lake are eutrophic, which means they are overloaded with nutrients.
Check yourself
Question 1 of 3
Below about what depth can Lacamas Lake not support life?
Composition
what it's made of
- Lacamas Creek — The creek that collects rain from the surrounding land and feeds Lacamas Lake and Round Lake.
- Round Lake and its dams — A smaller lake joined to Lacamas Lake, with the dams that set the water level of both.
- Warm surface layer — Sun-warmed water near the top, suited to warm-water fish such as bass, bluegill and perch.
- Oxygen-poor depths — Deep, cold water cut off from oxygen by algae, which leaves it barren and lifeless.
- Lacamas Heritage Trail — A 3.5-mile dirt and gravel trail along the lake's whole southern edge.
Connection
how it relates
Change
how and why it evolves
- Past
- The Lacamas Lake Dam was built at the south end of Round Lake in 1883, raising the water level of both lakes by about 12 feet. In the 1990s, many high-tech plants and expensive housing developments began to appear around the lake.
- Now
- Since 2018, the City of Camas has owned the two dams on Round Lake, a gift from Georgia-Pacific, whose Camas mill once drew water from the lake.
- Next
- Ideas for cleaning up the lake include a special aerator called a Speece Cone and biological methods such as barley hay. Whether such fixes are tried, and how well they work, will shape the lake's future.