Lake Lemon 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 control ...

located in southern

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

approximately northeast of Bloomington,

. It is bounded by private and public property in Monroe County and Brown County, with the eastern end of the lake in Brown County. The surface area of the lake is , making it the 11th largest lake in Indiana. There are of shoreline. The lake has an average depth of at full pool level. The greatest depth is somewhat in excess of , matching with the original

Bean Blossom Creek Beanblossom Creek is a stream in Monroe and Brown counties, Indiana, in the United States. The creek drains roughly 91.97 square miles into the two counties of south central Indiana. History Beanblossom Creek was named for a pioneer named Beanbl ...

bed.

Construction

Damming of Bean Blossom Creek and construction of Lake Lemon began in 1953 with the intent to create a primary water source for nearby Bloomington, as well as a recreation area and flood control project for Bean Blossom Creek. Lake Lemon Dam is an earthen dam 51 feet in height, 660 feet in length at its crest, and a maximum capacity of 45,700

acre-feet The acre-foot is a non- SI unit of volume equal to about commonly used in the United States in reference to large-scale water resources, such as reservoirs, aqueducts, canals, sewer flow capacity, irrigation water, and river flows. An acre-f ...

. Construction was completed by 1956. Lake Lemon remained a primary water source for Bloomington until being replaced in the 1970s by Lake Monroe, a considerably larger man-made reservoir to the south. Lake Lemon still serves as a back-up water source for Bloomington. The Indiana Rail Road's Shuffle Creek Trestle is located on the south side of the lake. It is the location of a July 2014 incident that nearly resulted in the deaths of two trespassers.

Management

By the 1990s, the City of Bloomington Utilities department, which operated the lake, began looking for an alternative group to manage the lake. This was due in large part to financial pressures on that department's budget. A group of landowners around Lake Lemon formed the

Lake Lemon Conservancy District 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 ...

to take over operation of the lake, and official operation of the lake was handed over to this group in 1995. In 2002, the City of Bloomington handed over operation of Riddle Point Park (located on the lake) to the conservancy district as well.

Fauna and flora

The lake is home to two dozen varieties of fish (including

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, b ...

crappie Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers. Etymology The genus name ''Pomo ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

, and bluegill); wildlife (including

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...

and

muskrat The muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over a wide range of climates and habita ...

); and birds (including

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same nich ...

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychu ...

, and

egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same buil ...

). Since 1985, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources has released 73 bald eagle chicks at nearby Lake Monroe, resulting in an increasing number of sightings of this species at Lake Lemon. A very wide range of plants and trees find comfortable habitat on the lands immediately surrounding the lake. The most abundant plants include American lotus,

cattail ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in ...

, and

spatterdock ''Nuphar advena'' (spatterdock or cow lily or yellow pond-lily) is a species of '' Nuphar'' native throughout the eastern United States and in some parts of Canada, such as Nova Scotia.Flora of North America''Nuphar advena''/ref> It is similar to ...

. Tree varieties include

silver maple ''Acer saccharinum'', commonly known as silver maple, creek maple, silverleaf maple, soft maple, large maple, water maple, swamp maple, or white maple, is a species of maple native to the eastern and central United States and southeastern Canad ...

and oak, both in abundance. As of 2005,

zebra mussel The zebra mussel (''Dreissena polymorpha'') is a small freshwater mussel. The species originates from the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, but has been accidentally introduced to numerous other areas and has become an invasive species in ma ...

s, an

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species adv ...

, have not been observed in the lake.

Parks and other facilities

There are two publicly accessible parks located on the lake. The largest is Riddle Point Park operated by the Lake Lemon Conservancy district. This park features a boat ramp, a native prairie grass demonstration area, a beach, a shelter house, and a nature trail. The other park is Little Africa Wildlife Viewing Area (), which covers on a peninsula at the east end of the lake and features a nature trail. Lake Lemon Marina is the only marina on the lake. It is located on the north shore of the lake and offers the only publicly available boat fuel on the lake. A private yacht club called Bloomington Yacht Club exists on the south shore of the lake. Also on the south shore of the lake is the

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

Aquatic Center. This center hosts a number of activities including

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' ( sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' ( iceboat) or on ''land'' ( land yacht) over a chose ...

, rowing, and

water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffici ...

. The facility is home to the Indiana University Women's Rowing Team, Indiana University Club Rowing Team, and Indiana University Sailing Club.

References

External links

Bloomington Yacht Club

Lake Lemon Marina

Properties For Sale on Lake Lemon
{{authority control Protected areas of Brown County, Indiana

Lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

Protected areas of Monroe County, Indiana Dams in Indiana United States local public utility dams Dams completed in 1956

1953 establishments in Indiana