Lake Otún (''Laguna del Otún'') is a small

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

in the Nevados National Park, in the Risaralda department of

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. It located at an altitude of 3,900 m over an extinct crater and has an area of 1.5 square kilometres. The lake is of

glacial A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

origin and is fed by

meltwaters Meltwater (or melt water) is water released by the melting of snow or ice, including glacial ice, tabular icebergs and ice shelves over oceans. Meltwater is often found during early spring when snow packs and frozen rivers melt with rising te ...

of the Nevado Santa Isabel. Lake Otún is the source of the

Otún River The Otún River (''Río Otún'') is a river in the Risaralda department of Colombia. Its source is Lake Otún, fed by meltwater from Nevado Santa Isabel, and its outlet is the Cauca River. The Otún River passes between the cities of Pere ir ...

, which supplies

drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

to the cities of Pereira and

Dosquebradas Dosquebradas () is the second largest city and a municipality in the Risaralda Department, Colombia. , with a population of approximately 225,540 inhabitants. The city is connected by the César Gaviria Trujillo Viaduct to Pereira, the capital ...

. Lake Otún is an important breeding ground for several threatened or

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

bird species, including the Colombian torrent duck (''Merganetta armata columbiana''), the Colombian ruddy duck (''Oxyura jamaicensis andina''), the Andean teal (''Anas andium'') and the

Andean snipe The Jameson's snipe or Andean snipe (''Gallinago jamesoni'') is a small, stocky wader. It breeds in the Andes in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. It appears to be entirely sedentary, with no evidence of migration. It is sometimes ...

(''Gallinago jamesoni'').Section 34
Laguna del Otún – Descripción general y biodiversidad
Lake Otún contains a large population of

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...

, introduced for

recreational fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is occupational fishing activities done for profit; or subsistence fishing, ...

and a major attraction for visitors to the lake.

References

External links

*
Photos of Lake Otún
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake Otun Otun Geography of Risaralda Department Pereira, Colombia Ramsar sites in Colombia