Lake Chaffee is a small, shallow, man-made lake located approximately northwest of the hamlet of
Westford in the town of
Ashford in
Windham County, northeastern
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
. The lake has an area of and a maximum depth of . Its average surface elevation is above sea level.
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History
Lake Chaffee was formed sometime prior to 1934 by damming a small stream named Chaffee Brook. Before the dam was built, wetlands existed where the pond is now.[
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Description
Lake Chaffee's inflows consist of several intermittent small streams and runoff, and its outlet is Chaffee Brook, which flows east to the Mount Hope River. The lake's waters are held back by a earthen dam; Chaffee Brook exits the lake via a concrete spillway in the middle of this dam. Lake Chaffee's watershed is approximately in area. It takes nearly six months for the lake's water to be completely exchanged. The lake has approximately of shoreline, disregarding the lake's two islands.[
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Development
Today, Lake Chaffee is surrounded by a high-density area of houses which overlook the water. The houses are part of the Lake Chaffee census-designated place for statistical purposes.
Recreation
Lake Chaffee is home to two beaches and a boat launch, which are open to lake residents. Swimming, fishing, canoeing, kayaking and skating are popular activities on the lake. Use of gasoline-powered engines is not permitted on, over, or above Lake Chaffee.[
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Flora and fauna
Lake Chaffee is an excellent fishery, with a healthy population of largemouth bass
The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, bu ...
, black crappie, chain pickerel
The chain pickerel (''Esox niger'') is a species of freshwater fish in the pike family (family Esocidae) of order Esociformes. The chain pickerel and the American pickerel (''E. americanus'') belong to the ''Esox'' genus of pike.
Taxonomy
Fren ...
, and yellow perch
The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Sam ...
. The largemouth bass average in the two-pound class, with larger fish in the four- to six-pound class being common.[http://www.lakechaffee.org/fishing.php ]
Lake Chaffee is home to abundant aquatic vegetation, which occasionally must be harvested to enable recreational activities.
References
{{coord, 41.9385, -72.1956, region:US-CT, display=title
Ashford, Connecticut
Bodies of water of Windham County, Connecticut
Ponds of Connecticut