Centennial Lake aerial Ellicott City Maryland

Centennial Lake is a man-made

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 a park in

Howard County, Maryland Howard County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2010 census, the population was 287,085. As of the 2020 census its population rose to 328,200. Its county seat is Ellicott City. Howard County is included in the Baltimore-Colu ...

, near

Columbia, Maryland Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland. It is one of the principal communities of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages. Columbia began with ...

and Clarksville, known as Centennial Park. It was created by damming the Centennial Branch of the

Little Patuxent River The Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in the state of Maryland. There are three main river drainages for central Maryland: the Potomac River to the west passing through Washington, D.C., the Patapsco River to the northeast ...

. The lake and the park feature a dam, a wildlife area, a walking trail, boating, fishing, and other recreational activities. The park is owned by the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks. The lake is used by the county and state for the conservation of various types of fish, such as

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 ...

and bass, with fishing restrictions implemented, though an overabundance has resulted in restrictions being lifted at times. Currently, normal non-tidal Maryland Department of Natural Resources fishing regulations apply.

History

In 1969, the County attempted to purchase by condemnation, 64 acres of the land occupying Centennial Park from a company run by the land speculator Joel Kline for $3,180 an acre. The property contained an early 1800s farmhouse that had been destroyed by fire during Kline's ownership. Kline was later indicted for real estate fraud that was linked to local politicians up to

Spiro Agnew Spiro Theodore Agnew (November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 39th vice president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. He is the second vice president to resign the position, the other being John ...

who was forced to resign. The County eventually bought the Centennial lake parkland from Kline's creditors in 1975 at nearly twice the cost. In 1969,

proclaimed the arrival of the first Columbia based scientific firm, Hittman Associates that relocated for favorable lease rates from

Howard Research and Development The Rouse Company, founded by Hunter Moss and James W. Rouse in 1939, was a publicly held shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company. Beginnings - Moss-Rouse Company T ...

. Hittman in turn was contracted by the

EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

using Wilde Lake as an example to recommend reuse of storm water runoff from Columbia's reservoir systems for residential drinking water to save on development costs. On 1 December 2013, the lake was temporarily closed following the drowning of a man. In late Fall 2015, the lake was lowered nearly 10 feet to accommodate repairs to the dam riser gates. It was restored to normal levels in January 2016.

References

External links

Centennial Park homepageAerial view of Lake Centennial
Parks in Howard County, Maryland

Centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at a ...

Ellicott City, Maryland {{HowardCountyMD-geo-stub

History

See also

References

External links