Lake Havasu () is a large

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

formed by

Parker Dam Parker Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam that crosses the Colorado River downstream of Hoover Dam. Built between 1934 and 1938 by the Bureau of Reclamation, it is high, of which are below the riverbed (the deep excavation was necessary in ...

on the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

, on the border between

San Bernardino County, California San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is locat ...

, and

Mohave County, Arizona Mohave County occupies the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 List of counties in Arizona, counties in the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 213,267. The county seat is Kingman ...

Lake Havasu City Lake Havasu City (, ) is a city in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 57,144, up from 52,527 in 2010. It is served by Lake Havasu City Airport. History The community first started dur ...

sits on the Arizonan side of the lake with its Californian counterpart of Havasu Lake directly across the lake. The reservoir has an available capacity of . The concrete

arch dam An arch dam is a concrete dam that is curved upstream in plan. The arch dam is designed so that the force of the water against it, known as hydrostatic pressure, presses against the arch, causing the arch to straighten slightly and strengtheni ...

was built by the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and operatio ...

between 1934 and 1938. The lake's primary purpose is to store water for pumping into two

aqueducts Aqueduct may refer to: Structures *Aqueduct (bridge), a bridge to convey water over an obstacle, such as a ravine or valley *Navigable aqueduct, or water bridge, a structure to carry navigable waterway canals over other rivers, valleys, railw ...

. Prior to the dam construction, the area was home to the

Mojave people Mohave or Mojave (Mojave language, Mojave: 'Aha Makhav) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people indigenous to the Colorado River in the Mojave Desert. The Fort Mojave Indian Reservation includes territory within the bo ...

. The lake was named (in 1939) after the Mojave word for ''blue''. In the early 19th century, it was frequented by beaver trappers. Spaniards also began to mine the areas along the river.

Aqueducts

Mark Wilmer Pumping Plant pumps water into the

Central Arizona Project Aqueduct The Central Arizona Project (CAP) is a 336 mi (541 km) diversion canal in Arizona in the southern United States. The aqueduct diverts water from the Colorado River at the Bill Williams Wildlife Refuge south portion of Lake Havasu ne ...

. Whitsett Pumping Plant is located on the lake, and lifts the water for the

Colorado River Aqueduct The Colorado River Aqueduct, or CRA, is a water conveyance in Southern California in the United States, operated by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The aqueduct impounds water from the Colorado River at Lake Havasu on ...

. Gene Pumping Plant, south of Gene Wash Reservoir, is west-southwest of Parker Dam and gives the water an additional boost of . The Colorado River Aqueduct has three more pumping plants: Iron Mountain (), Eagle Mountain (), and Julian Hinds (). The total lift is .

Natural history

The shorelines are in the

ecotone An ecotone is a transitional area between two plant communities, where these meet and integrate. Examples include areas between grassland and forest, estuaries and lagoon, freshwater and sea water etc. An ecotone may be narrow or wide, and it ma ...

(transition zone) of the higher

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

to the lower

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It ...

and its Californian

Colorado Desert The Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert located in California, United States, and Baja California, Mexico. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella, Imperial and Mexicali valleys. It is home to ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

Havasu National Wildlife Refuge Havasu National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California. It preserves habitat for wildlife like desert bighorn sheep, the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher, the threaten ...

is located at the upper end and upriver.

Lake Havasu State Park Lake Havasu State Park is a state park located on Lake Havasu in Mohave County, Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the w ...

is along the eastern shore in Arizona. The

Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge The Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge protects the lower course of the Bill Williams River, to its mouth at Lake Havasu reservoir, in western Arizona. It is located within eastern La Paz and Mohave Counties, in the Lower Colorado R ...

extends southeastward up the

riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripari ...

of the

Bill Williams River The Bill Williams River is a river in west-central Arizona where it, along with one of its tributaries, the Santa Maria River, form the boundary between Mohave County to the north and La Paz County to the south.''Arizona Atlas & Gazetteer,'' ...

canyon from the southeastern end of the reservoir and dam.

Fish

Lake Havasu is well known for its recreational fishing and boating, which bring in about a million visitors a year. Fishing tournaments are often held on the lake, where

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

are the main catch. Fish list :

Largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater fish, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern United States, eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada an ...

smallmouth bass The smallmouth bass (''Micropterus dolomieu'') is a species of freshwater fish in the Centrarchidae, sunfish family (biology), family (Centrarchidae) of the order (biology), order Centrarchiformes. It is the type species of its genus ''Micropterus ...

striped bass The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has ...

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus''), known informally as the "channel cat", is a species of catfish native to North America. They are North America's most abundant catfish species, and the official state fish of Kansas, Missouri, Nebra ...

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 ''Py ...

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 ''Pomoxi ...

razorback sucker The razorback sucker (''Xyrauchen texanus'') is a suckerfish found in rivers and lakes in the southwestern United States and formerly northwestern Mexico. It can grow to in length and is recognisable by the keel between its head and dorsal fin. ...

, sunfish, and

redear sunfish The redear sunfish (''Lepomis microlophus''), also known as the shellcracker, Georgia bream, cherry gill, chinquapin, improved bream, and sun perch, is a freshwater fish in the family Centrarchidae and is native to the southeastern United States ...

White sturgeon White sturgeon (''Sinosturio transmontanus'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae of the order Acipenseriformes. They are an anadromous (migratory) fish species ranging in the Eastern Pacific; from the Gulf of Alaska to Monterey, ...

were stocked in Lake Havasu in 1967 and 1968 from stock obtained from San Pablo Bay, California. While some dead sturgeon were found downstream from Havasu (probably killed during passage over dams), living fish have not been recorded, but may still exist along the southern end of Lake Havasu near Parker Dam. The

California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, commonly referred to as OEHHA (pronounced oh-EEE-ha), is a specialized department within the cabinet-level California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) with responsibility for evaluati ...

(OEHHA) has developed a safe eatin
advisory
for Lake Havasu based on levels of mercury found in fish caught from this water body.

Recreation

The Bureau of Land Management operates 73 campsites on the eastern shore of Lake Havasu.

Arizona State Parks } An Arizona state park is an area of land in the U.S. state of Arizona preserved by the state for its natural, cultural, or recreational resources. The state park system in Arizona includes both state parks and state historic parks, as well as ...

operates

and

Cattail Cove State Park Cattail Cove State Park is a state park of Arizona, United States, on the shore of Lake Havasu. The park is located on Arizona State Route 95 in far southern Mohave County, about from Lake Havasu City and from Parker Strip. The park is publ ...

on the eastern shore of the lake. The northern part of the lake is included in the

. Havasu Springs Resort, a BLM concession, operates on the south edge of Lake Havasu. Black Meadow Landing, another BLM concession, operates on the west bank of the lake.

Image gallery

File:LakeHavasauAZCA.jpg, Early-morning fishing on Lake Havasu File:LondonBridge LakeHavasu.jpg,

London Bridge The name "London Bridge" refers to several historic crossings that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark in central London since Roman Britain, Roman times. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 197 ...

at Lake Havasu. File:Lake Havasu SW01.jpg, View from London Bridge

References

External links

United States Bureau of Reclamation

Lake Havasu Shoreline Sites
– BLM
Lake Havasu News
*
Arizona Boating Locations Facilities Map

USGS – Real-time water data for Lake Havasu near Parker Dam

* ttp://www.hookedaz.com/Maps/AllRivers/AZRivers.html Lake Havasu Colorado River Interactive Map {{authority control Colorado River Geography of the Colorado Desert Havasu Lower Colorado River Valley Havasu Havasu Havasu Sonoran Desert Tourist attractions in San Bernardino County, California Havasu Havasu Havasu 1939 establishments in Arizona 1939 establishments in California