Canonsburg Lake is a lake in

Canonsburg Canonsburg is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, southwest of Pittsburgh. Canonsburg was laid out by Colonel John Canon in 1789 and incorporated in 1802. The population was 9,735 at the 2020 census. The town lies in a rich coal distri ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It is an

artificial lake A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

formed by the waters of Little Chartiers Creek behind a long and high concrete dam. The dam was built in 1943 by

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for Aluminum Company of America) is a Pittsburgh-based industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary ...

to create a freshwater reservoir for the Canonsburg Forging Plant, which was considered a strategic resource during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1957,Some sources claim 1958 instead of 1957. the

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is an independent state agency responsible for the regulation of all fishing and boating in the state of Pennsylvania within the United States of America. Unlike many U.S. states, Pennsylvania has a separ ...

(PFBC) acquired the 138-acre (56 ha) property from

, which included the 76-acre (31 ha) surface area of the lake plus the dam and surrounding lands. The PFBC converted the body of water from an industrial

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

into a recreational lake.

Boating

Most boats on Canonsburg Lake are small craft such as

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

s, inflatable boats, and shallow-draft, lightweight fishing boats. Restrictions limit powered boats to those that use an

electric motor An electric motor is an Electric machine, electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a Electromagneti ...

. Diesel-powered boats are not allowed. There is a

boat launch A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving small ...

ramp on the eastern shore of the lake with a parking lot with a capacity of "at least 10 vehicles."This is the capacity the PFBC claims, bu
aerial photography of the parking lot
suggests it is actually substantially larger than that. Only registered boats (or those with a valid launch permit issued by the Commission or PA Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources) are allowed on the lake.

Fishing

Recreational shore

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

is permitted at Canonsburg Lake under the statewide fishing regulations for Commonwealth Inland Waters, which govern fishing

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

, minimum fish size, and daily catch limits for many species of fish. The PFBC stocks Canonsburg Lake with several species, including

channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States, the ...

muskellunge The muskellunge ''(Esox masquinongy)'', often shortened to muskie, musky or lunge is a species of large freshwater predatory fish native to North America. It is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae. Origin of name The name "muskellun ...

tiger muskellunge The tiger muskellunge (''Esox masquinongy × lucius'' or ''Esox lucius × masquinongy''), commonly called tiger muskie, is a carnivorous fish, and is the usually-sterile, hybrid offspring of the true muskellunge (''Esox masquinongy'') and the no ...

fingerlings, and

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

. According to a survey of the lake conducted by PFBC staff in May 2000, the following species of fish were present in Canonsburg Lake, sorted here by number of specimen caught: The surveyors noted that the lake "contained an excellent population of largemouth bass. Quality-size bass were present in high numbers". The lake is also renowned by fishermen in southwestern Pennsylvania for its robust population of channel catfish.

Maintenance problems

Due to the chronic underfunding of lake maintenance, an organization called the Canonsburg Lake Restoration & Improvement Committee formed in 2000 to raise awareness and to raise funds for Canonsburg Lake's maintenance issues. The two primary problems are the need for dam repairs and silt removal.

Dam deficiencies

The dam of Canonsburg Lake was considered deficient in several ways by a 1996 assessment by Schnabel Engineering Associates. The deficiencies included minor surface deterioration of the concrete, insufficient spillway capacity, and the lack of a low level outlet for the reservoir, among other problems. According to the PFBC, the estimated cost for repairs to the dam is $83 million, but no funding exists for this maintenance, either.

Silting problems

Like many other aging artificial lakes, Canonsburg Lake has a problem with

silting Siltation, is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary or ...

raising the bed of the lake. This process has already made some parts of the lake unnavigable, and if left untreated by

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

, it may ultimately make the lake unusable by boaters. A dredging program would cost approximately $3 million, but no funding exists to implement one. There is a website that has been created to raise the funds coordinated by local residents who live on the lake. Visi
Save Canonsburg Lake
for more information on how to help.

Notes

References

{{authority control Reservoirs in Pennsylvania Protected areas of Washington County, Pennsylvania Canonsburg, Pennsylvania Bodies of water of Washington County, Pennsylvania