Maffitt Lake is a

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 ...

in the

four corners The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...

Dallas County Dallas County may refer to: Places in the USA: * Dallas County, Alabama, founded in 1818, the first county in the United States by that name * Dallas County, Arkansas * Dallas County, Iowa * Dallas County, Missouri * Dallas County, Texas, the nin ...

Polk County Polk County is the name of twelve counties in the United States, all except two named after president of the United States James Knox Polk: * Polk County, Arkansas * Polk County, Florida * Polk County, Georgia * Polk County, Iowa * Polk Count ...

Warren County Warren County is the name of fourteen counties in the USA. Some are named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War: * Warren County, Georgia * Warren County, Illinois * Warren County ...

, and Madison County,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. It is owned by the

Des Moines Water Works The Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) is a publicly owned, municipal water utility with its headquarters in Water Works Park. It was founded 1871 southwest of downtown Des Moines, Iowa, along the Raccoon River and provides water to half a million r ...

that serves as an emergency water supply for the city of

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

, Iowa. In a drought emergency, the level of the

Raccoon River The Raccoon River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 26, 2011 tributary of the Des Moines River in central Iowa in the United States. As measured using the longes ...

could be brought up by draining water from the lake into the river. The main park area is named the Dale Maffit Reservoir and Arboretum. The park has a paved loop to a picnic area with lake access for kayaks and canoes. There are also hiking trails throughout the park. The picnic area has flush toilets that are open in the April through October. The Gilfillan Family Cemetery is located near the entrance of the picnic area. This 19th century cemetery contains the remains of 10 early Polk County, Iowa settlers.

External links

Des Moines Water Works Maffit Lake web pageIowa DNR Dale Maffit Reservoir web pageA guide to Maffit Lake - desmoinesoutdoors.comGilfillan Family Cemetery
Bodies of water of Dallas County, Iowa Bodies of water of Madison County, Iowa Bodies of water of Polk County, Iowa Reservoirs in Iowa Bodies of water of Warren County, Iowa {{Iowa-protected-area-stub