Lake Piso, also known as Lake PisuWalters, ''Guanya Pau'', p. 79. and Fisherman's Lake,Cole, ''The Liberian Yearbook'', p. 192.Nelson, ''Liberia, a Country Study'', p. 47. is an oblongStreissguth, ''Liberia in Pictures'', p. 10.

tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') ...

Fox, ''Butterflies of Liberia'', p. 26.Hughes et al., ''Directory of African Wetlands'', p. 387. in Grand Cape Mount County in western Liberia, near the town of

Robertsport Robertsport is a town in western Liberia, about 10 miles (16 km) from the Sierra Leone border. It is named after Joseph Jenkins Roberts, the first president of Liberia. The town lies on Cape Mount peninsula, a spit of land separating the bracki ...

. At an area of , it is the largest lake in Liberia.Streissguth, ''Liberia in Pictures'', p. 72. Its name originates from a local term meaning "pigeon's hole" – a reference to the

flocks Flocking is the behaviour exhibited when a group of birds, called a flock, are foraging or in flight. Computer simulations and mathematical models that have been developed to emulate the flocking behaviours of birds can also generally be applie ...

pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

s that once came to Lake Piso for water.

Hydrology and geology

The

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

lake borders the Cape Mount peninsula, and is connected to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

by a narrow inlet known locally as the "bar mouth".Walters, ''Guanya Pau'', p. 39. Various rivers empty into Lake Piso, including Mole Creek and Mafa River, which discharges at the 'bar mouth'. There are a number of islands in the lake, including Massatin Island, which offered a haven for monkeys and birds species, it also served as temporary refuge for some Liberians during the Liberian Civil War.

History

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Lake Piso functioned as a

military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

for Allied

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...

s. Lake Piso overflowed its banks at least twice in 1998, causing heavy flooding in Garwular District. Flooding in August 1998 occurred due to a blockage of the narrow inlet connecting the lake to the Atlantic Ocean, damaging some homes. Additional flooding in September and October, brought about by heavy rains, affected over twenty settlements, causing at least ten deaths, leaving thousands homeless, and forcing others to leave their homes. The floods led the government of Liberia to declare the area a "disaster zone". On December 13–14, 2002, the ''Papa Friends 2000''

capsize Capsizing or keeling over occurs when a boat or ship is rolled on its side or further by wave action, instability or wind force beyond the angle of positive static stability or it is upside down in the water. The act of recovering a vessel fro ...

d in Lake Piso, at the confluence of the lake and Mafa River. The overcrowded wooden ferry was transporting approximately 200 passengers, most returning from the funeral of a local

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

. Only 15 people were rescued; the rest drowned and were recovered or presumed dead. A

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

was designated near Lake Piso in 1999Outram, ''Africa South of the Sahara 2004'', p. 613. and, as of 2004, the Lake Piso

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

s, covering an area of , were Liberia's only designated wetland of international importance.

UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on ...

, ''Desk Study on the Environment in Liberia'', p. 52.

Human activity

The area near the lagoon is the homeland of the Vai people. Human activity in Lake Piso includes

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

and

water sport Water sports or aquatic sports are sport activities conducted on waterbodies, and can be categorized according to the degree of immersion by the participants. On the water * Boat racing, the use of powerboats to participate in races * Boatin ...

s such as

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

, canoeing 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 suffic ...

. Prior to the outbreak of the First Liberian Civil War, the lagoon was a popular travel destination for tourists. High-quality

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

s have been mined from the rivers that discharge into Lake Piso where "igneous intrusions provide potentially rich structural traps".

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Piso Grand Cape Mount County Lagoons of Africa Bodies of water of Liberia Tourist attractions in Liberia Ramsar sites in Liberia