Lake Buhi is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

found in

Buhi, Camarines Sur Buhi, officially the Municipality of Buhi ( Buhinon: ''Banwaan nya Buhi''; Rinconada Bikol: ''Banwāan ka Buhi''; Tagalog: ''Bayan ng Buhi''), is a 1st class world class municipality in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to th ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It has an area of and has an average depth of . The lake lies in the valley formed by two ancient volcanoes,

Mount Iriga Mount Iriga, also known as Mount Asog, is an active stratovolcano in the province of Camarines Sur, in the Philippines. It is a stratovolcano about a kilometer from Lake Buhi. It rises with a base diameter of . It has a large crater formed ...

(also known as ''Mount Asog'') and

Mount Malinao Mount Malinao is a potentially active stratovolcano located in the Bicol Region of the Philippines. The volcano displays strong fumarolic activity which is harnessed for generating electricity. Located on its slope is Tiwi Geothermal Power Plant ...

. It was created in 1641, when an earthquake caused a side of Mount Asog to collapse. The resulting landslide created a natural dam that blocked the flow of nearby streams. Another theory suggests that it was created by the eruption of Mt. Asog, which is now dormant. The lake is famous since it is one of the few bodies of water that contains the ''

sinarapan The sinarapan or tabyos (''Mistichthys luzonensis'') is a species of fish in the goby subfamily, Gobionellinae, and the only member of the monotypic genus ''Mistichthys''. It is endemic to the Philippines, where it occurs along the Bicol River a ...

'' (''Mistichthys luzonensis'') which is the world's smallest commercially harvested fish. Aside from the ''sinarapan'', Lake Buhi is also home for other marine organisms such as the ''Irin-irin'' ('' Redigobius bikolanus''), ''Dalag'' (''

Channa striata ''Channa striata'', the striped snakehead, is a species of snakehead fish. It is also known as the common snakehead, chevron snakehead, or snakehead murrel and generally referred simply as mudfish. It is native to South and Southeast Asia, and h ...

''), ''Puyo'' (''

Anabas testudineus The climbing perch (''Anabas testudineus'') is a species of amphibious freshwater fish in the family Anabantidae (the climbing gouramis). A labyrinth fish native to Far Eastern Asia, the fish inhabits freshwater systems from Pakistan, India ...

''), ''Kotnag'' ('' Hemiramphus sp.''), ''Burirawan'' (''

Strophidon sathete The slender giant moray or Gangetic moray, ''Strophidon sathete'', is the longest member of the family of moray eels. It is in the genus ''Strophidon''. The longest recorded specimen was caught in 1927, on the Maroochy River in Queensland; it me ...

'') and native catfish ('' Clarias sp.''). Other fishes are introduced to boost the fishery industry such as the Nile tilapia (''

Oreochromis niloticus The Nile tilapia (''Oreochromis niloticus'') is a species of tilapia, a cichlid fish native to the northern half of Africa and the Levante area, including Land of Israel, Israel, and Lebanon. Numerous Introduced species, introduced populations ex ...

''), Mozambique tilapia (''

Oreochromis mossambicus ''Oreochromis'' is a large genus of oreochromine cichlids, fishes endemic to Africa and the Middle East. A few species from this genus have been introduced far outside their native range and are important in aquaculture. Many others have ver ...

''), common carp (''

Cyprinus carpio The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive The ...

'') and Bangkok hito (''Clarias sp.''). The forest surrounding the lake is the home of at least 25 bird species. The five

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

species are the Philippine pygmy woodpecker,

Philippine hanging parrot The Philippine hanging parrot (''Loriculus philippensis''), also commonly known as the colasisiKennedy, R.S., Gonzales P.C., Dickinson E.C., Miranda, Jr, H.C., Fisher T.H. (2000) ''A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines'', Oxford University Pres ...

black-naped monarch The black-naped monarch or black-naped blue flycatcher (''Hypothymis azurea'') is a slim and agile passerine bird belonging to the family of monarch flycatchers found in southern and south-eastern Asia. They are sexually dimorphic, with the m ...

, elegant tit and the

white-eared brown dove The white-eared brown dove (''Phapitreron leucotis'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republi ...

. Other fauna found in the forest are flying lizards ('' Draco sp.''),

skink Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Ski ...

s, monitor lizards ('' Varanus marmoratus''),

civet A civet () is a small, lean, mostly nocturnal mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa, especially the tropical forests. The term civet applies to over a dozen different species, mostly from the family Viverridae. Most of the species diversit ...

s, bats and the Philippine Cynomolgus monkey (''

Macaca fascicularis The crab-eating macaque (''Macaca fascicularis''), also known as the long-tailed macaque and referred to as the cynomolgus monkey in laboratories, is a cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. A species of macaque, the crab-eating macaque ...

''). Today the lake is the main source of water supply for the

National Power Corporation The National Power Corporation ( fil, Pambansang Korporasyon sa Elektrisidad, also known as Napocor, NPC or National Power), is a Philippine government-owned and controlled corporation that is mandated to provide electricity to all rural areas o ...

Hydro Electric Plant. The power plant, which was founded in 1952, generates an average of 2.8 megawatts. It is also used by the

National Irrigation Administration The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) ( fil, Pambansang Pangasiwaan ng Patubig) is a Philippine government-owned and controlled corporation primarily responsible for irrigation development and management in the country. History NIA was ...

to irrigate at least of the Riconada towns located downstream and

Iriga City Iriga, officially the City of Iriga ( Rinconada Bikol: ''Syudad ka Iriga''; bcl, Siyudad nin Iriga; fil, Lungsod ng Iriga), is component city in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of ...

Fish kill

On September 22, 2007, a

fish kill The term fish kill, known also as fish die-off, refers to a localized die-off of fish populations which may also be associated with more generalized mortality of aquatic life.University of Florida. Gainesville, FL (2005) ''Plant Management in Fl ...

Camarines Sur Camarines Sur ( bcl, Habagatan na Camarines; tl, Timog Camarines), officially the Province of Camarines Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region on Luzon. Its capital is Pili and the province borders Camarines Norte and ...

's Lake Buhi threatened the

livelihood A person's livelihood (derived from ''life-lode'', "way of life"; cf. OG ''lib-leit'') refers to their "means of securing the basic necessities (food, water, shelter and clothing) of life". Livelihood is defined as a set of activities essential t ...

of local

fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreat ...

. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) stated that it resulted from

sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic activ ...

from

Iriga Iriga, officially the City of Iriga (Rinconada Bikol: ''Syudad ka Iriga''; bcl, Siyudad nin Iriga; fil, Lungsod ng Iriga), is component city in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 11 ...

City, since the

rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

s by the southwest

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

loosened the

from nearby

volcanoes A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

. The

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS, ; tl, Surian ng Pilipinas sa Bulkanolohiya at Sismolohiya) is a Philippine national institution dedicated to provide information on the activities of volcanoes, earthquakes, and ...

(Phivolcs) rejected the BFAR's finding. Buhi has a population of 67,762

people A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

and comprises 13,238 households.

Gallery

Image:View of Buhi from Mt. Asog.jpg, Aerial view of Lake Buhi Image:Passenger boat at Buhi WTR.JPG, Passenger boat at the lake Image:Lake_Buhi_Buenavista_Volcanic_Rocks.JPG, Volcanic rocks on the lake Image:Buhi_Barit_River.jpg, View atop Barit River Bridge, one of the lake's tributaries Image:Lake_Buhi_Floating_Cottage2.jpg, Floating cottages in the lake

References

External links

* * Geographic data related t
Lake Buhi
at

OpenStreetMap OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open geographic database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveys, trace from aerial imagery and also import from other freely licensed g ...

{{Authority control Buhi Landforms of Camarines Sur