Mosquito Creek Lake (formerly Mosquito Creek Reservoir) 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 contro ...

Trumbull County Trumbull County is a County (United States), county in the far northeast portion of U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 201,977. Its county seat is Warren, Ohio, Warren, which developed indust ...

, northeast

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, in the United States. It is approximately northeast of

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...

. The lake is fed by Mosquito Creek and Walnut Creek. Construction was completed in 1944.

Description

Mosquito Creek Lake is a man-made reservoir. It is the second-largest inland lake in Ohio.Mosquito Creek Lake
US Army Corps of Engineers, retrieved 8 April 2015 Depth averages (depending on season), but the southern end towards the dam averages . The northern end is considerably more shallow, with depths averaging only . Completely surrounding the lake is

Mosquito Lake State Park Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "litt ...

, and it is bisected by the

Ohio State Route 88 State Route 88 (SR 88) is a highway generally running in an east–west direction in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. Its southern terminus is in Portage County at SR 59 at the intersection of Freedom Street with Mai ...

causeway. The drainage area for lake is .

History

Initial plans for Mosquito Creek Reservoir were developed in the 1930s. The reservoir was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1938 and it was constructed as a means for flood control and the regulation of

streamflow Streamflow, or channel runoff, is the flow of water in streams and other channels, and is a major element of the water cycle. It is one component of the movement of water from the land to waterbodies, the other component being surface runoff. Water ...

. Construction of the dam that created the lake was completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in April 1944. The reservoir provides flood protection for the upper

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

, Beaver River and the

Mahoning River The Mahoning River is a river located in northeastern Ohio and a small portion of western Pennsylvania. Flowing primarily through several Ohio counties, it crosses the state line into Pennsylvania before joining with the Shenango River to form the ...

valley. Additional benefits contemplated were reduction in pollution from local steel processing, and the provision of a water supply for the city of

. In 1971, the Board on Geographic Names Decisions officially changed the name from Mosquito Creek Reservoir to Mosquito Creek Lake.

Recreation

The lake is surrounded by Mosquito Lake State Park, operated by the

Ohio Department of Natural Resources The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) is the Ohio state government agency charged with ensuring "a balance between wise use and protection of our natural resources for the benefit of all." ODNR regulates the oil and gas industry, the m ...

. There are picnicking and camping, as well as designated hiking trails. Opportunities for water recreation are provided, including dock rentals, boat ramps, and various watercraft rentals. Fishing for

flathead catfish The flathead catfish (''Pylodictis olivaris''), also called by several common names including mudcat or shovelhead cat, is a large species of North American freshwater catfish in the family Ictaluridae. It is the only species of the genus ''P ...

is highly recommended at the location. Other species recreationally fished in the lake are

bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and ...

channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States, the ...

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 ''Pomoxis'' ...

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, but ...

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...

, ring perch, and

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

Ecological issues

The north part of the lake is a designated refuge for waterfowl. Boating and fishing are prohibited in these areas. There has been concern that the invasive Asian carp will reach Lake Erie via Mosquito Creek Reservoir, but the probability of this has been deemed low. Invasive

Zebra mussels 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 species, introduced to numerous other areas and has become an inv ...

have proliferated in the lake. This causes the lake's water to be clearer than normal, and subsequently, water-plants are able to thrive in the ecosystem. Soon after construction, the lake's water was considered among the best in the area, but man-made pollution from nearby residential areas has been a concern.

References

External links

Mosquito Creek State Park
{{authority control Bodies of water of Trumbull County, Ohio Reservoirs in Ohio