Lake Cuitzeo () 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 ...

in the central part of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, in the state of

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

. It has an area of . The lake is astatic, meaning the volume and level of water in the lake fluctuates frequently. It is the second-largest freshwater lake in Mexico. Lake Cuitzeo lies in an

endorheic basin An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

, which does not drain to the sea, although in prehistoric times the lake may well have overflowed during periods of increased inflow, since the lowest point on its rim is only 10–20 meters above the current maximum elevation of the lake's surface. The basin has an area of , lying mostly in Michoacán, with the northern part of the basin in

Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...

state. Michoacán's capital,

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid) is a city and municipal seat of the municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. The city is in the Guayangareo Valley and is the capital and larg ...

, lies in the Cuitzeo basin south of the lake. The basin of the

Lerma River The Lerma River ( es, Río Lerma) is Mexico's second longest river. It is a river in west-central Mexico that begins in Mexican Plateau at an altitude over above sea level, and ends where it empties into Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake, near ...

lies to the east and north, and the basin of the

Balsas River The Balsas River (Spanish Río Balsas, also locally known as the Mezcala River, or Atoyac River) is a major river of south-central Mexico. The basin flows through the states of Guerrero, México, Morelos, and Puebla. Downstream of Ciudad Al ...

lies to the south, separated by the mountains of the

Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt ( es, Eje Volcánico Transversal), also known as the Transvolcanic Belt and locally as the (''Snowy Mountain Range''), is an active volcanic belt that covers central-southern Mexico. Several of its highest peaks h ...

. The endorheic basin of

Lake Pátzcuaro Lake Pátzcuaro (Spanish: ''Lago de Pátzcuaro'') is a lake in the municipality of Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico. Lake Pátzcuaro lies in an endorheic basin, which does not drain to the sea. A watershed area of 929 square kilometres drains into ...

lies to the west. The lake is irregular in shape, with northern, western, and eastern sections connected by a central marshy area, which receives the main freshwater inflows. It has no natural outflow, but an outflow canal was cut to the north at the low point in the basin's rim, allowing the lake to drain via

Lake Yuriria Lake Yuriria (Spanish ''Laguna de Yuriria'') is a reservoir in Guanajuato state of central Mexico. The reservoir has existed since the 16th century, and is used for irrigation of the surrounding farms. The lake is an important habitat for waterbir ...

into the Lerma River when the water level is high; this limits the elevation of the lake to 1830 meters. The western section was divided in two by the construction of north-south highways. The western portion is saltier, and sustains unusual fisheries of

clam shrimp Clam shrimp are a group of bivalved branchiopod crustaceans that resemble the unrelated bivalved molluscs. They are extant and also known from the fossil record, from at least the Devonian period and perhaps before. They were originally classifi ...

s ''( Eocyzicus digueti'' and ''

Leptestheria compleximanus ''Leptestheria compleximanus'' is a species of North American clam shrimp known by the common name playa clam shrimp or spineynose clam shrimp. Range ''Leptestheria compleximanus'' is found from the Great Plains region of the United States to ...

)'', as well as

hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, Reduviidae, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. ...

ns, and

ephydrid Ephydridae (shore fly, sometimes brine fly) is a family of insects in the order Diptera. Shore flies are tiny flies that can be found near seashores or at smaller inland waters, such as ponds. About 2,000 species have been described worldwide, in ...

s. The lake basin is the only habitat for ''Thamnophis eques cuitzeoensis'', a subspecies of the essentially harmless, semi-aquatic

Mexican garter snake The Mexican garter snake (''Thamnophis eques'') is a species of snake of the family Colubridae. It is found in Mexico and in the United States (Arizona and New Mexico). This essentially harmless snake is semi-aquatic and most of the 10 recognized ...

. The three main inflows to the lake are the Viejo de Morelia, Grande de Morelia, and Querendaro rivers. These rivers originate in the mountains to the south, and sustain an irrigated agricultural area south of the lake, entering the central portion of the lake as irrigation canals. The main crops are maize, cotton, and coffee. About 40 percent of the basin is agricultural fields, 15 percent is pasture, 20 percent is pine-oak forests, and 15 percent is tropical dry forest. The pine-oak forests lie at higher elevations, and are part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests ecoregion. The

Bajío dry forests The Bajío dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in western−central Mexico. Geography The Bajío dry forests lie in the southwestern portion of the Mexican Plateau. They are bounded on the southeast, south, and southwest by ...

ecoregion covers the lower-lying parts of the basin, extending north into the basin of the Lerma River.

Sports

The lake has different small island with prehispanic remains, one of the islands was used as a prehispanic cemetery. It is a perfect place for bird watching, in winter many different migratory species can be seen. It is also a beautiful lake to practice kayaking in the southeast shore, there is a convenient fishermen entrance at 19°53'16"N 100°55'05"W following a land road from the town of San Bernardo. This town is 13 km west from the entrance of Morelia's International airport following the free road to Zinapecuaro. File:Cuitzeo1.jpg, Kayaking in lake Cuitzeo File:Cuitzeo2.jpg, Kayaking in lake Cuitzeo

References

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

* {{Authority control

Cuitzeo Cuitzeo () is a municipality located in the north of the Mexican state of Michoacán. The municipal seat is the town of Cuitzeo del Porvenir It is located in a relatively flat depression around Lake Cuitzeo, a large, very shallow lake, which is ...

Landforms of Michoacán Landforms of Guanajuato Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt Important Bird Areas of Mexico