Riffe Lake is a long
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 ...
on the
Cowlitz River
The Cowlitz River is a river in the state of Washington in the United States, a tributary of the Columbia River. Its tributaries drain a large region including the slopes of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens.
The Cowlitz has a d ...
in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
. It was created in with the construction of
Mossyrock Dam
Mossyrock Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Cowlitz River near Mossyrock in Lewis County, Washington. The reservoir created by the dam is called Riffe Lake and the primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric production while flood con ...
by Tacoma City Light (now
Tacoma Power
Tacoma Power is a public utility providing electrical power to Tacoma, Washington and the surrounding areas. Tacoma Power serves the cities of Tacoma, University Place, Fircrest, and Fife, and also provides service to parts of Steilacoom, L ...
).
Originally named Mossyrock Lake, then later as Davisson Lake after a utilities commissioner in Tacoma, the lake was renamed in 1976 after the community of Riffe, which was inundated by the lake.
The residents of
Kosmos and
Nesika were also relocated as the lake's water level would submerge all of Nesika and much of Kosmos.
The lake contains species of fish including
rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
and
brown trout, landlocked coho, bass both large mouth and small mouth, bluegill,
crappie, and perch.
In 2017, Tacoma Power lowered the maximum water level of the lake by due to concerns that the Mossyrock Dam could fail during a major seismic event and cause catastrophic flooding.
Gallery
See also
*
List of lakes in Washington List of lakes of Washington may refer to:
* List of lakes of Washington (state)
* List of lakes of the Washington, D.C., area
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