Talk:Gatun Lake

Fishing
Unsourced bit by an anon, saved here pending citations:

"Some of the best freshwater bass fishing in the world is believed to be had in the waters of Gatun lake. It is primarily stocked with peacock bass which was believed to have been imported from the rivers and streams of Venezuela. After their introduction into the waters of Gatun lake, the peacock bass encountered very little to no natural predators and has become extremely well adapted and populous, as well, to the surprise of many, carnivorous.

The lake is also populated by several other rarely spotted species including fresh water shark, kaymen's, and dogfish. It is a common practice on the waters of Gatun lake, when a Dog fish is caught, to kill the specimen and return it to the waters, as they are known for decimating fish populations by eating their eggs."

Stan 17:48, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 15:51, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

Fresh water or saline ?
it should be clarified in the lead if this lake is fresh water or saline water. -- D Big X ray ᗙ  07:11, 7 August 2019 (UTC)

Uncited material in need of citations
I am moving the following uncited material here until it can be properly supported with inline citations of reliable, secondary sources, per WP:V, WP:CS, WP:IRS, WP:PSTS, WP:BLP, WP:NOR, et al. This diff shows where it was in the article. Nightscream (talk) 15:11, 26 April 2022 (UTC)

Lede section
The lake was created between 1907 and 1913 by the building of the Gatun Dam across the Chagres River. At the time it was created, Gatun Lake was the largest human-made lake in the world, and the largest of its kind.

Description
The lake is situated in the valley of the Chagres River. It was formed, and the river widened and deepened, by the construction of the Gatun Dam about 10 km from the river's mouth in the Caribbean Sea in 1907–1913. The geography of the area was ideal for the creation of a large lake here; the hills bordering the valley of the Chagres open up widely around the area of the lake, but come together to form a gap just over 2 km wide at the location of the dam. The damming of the river flooded the originally wooded valley; almost a century later, the stumps of old mahogany trees can still be seen rising from the water, and submerged stumps form a hazard for any small vessels that wander off the marked channels.

Gatun Lake has an area of 425 km2 at its normal level of 26 m (85 ft) above sea level; it stores 5.2 cubic kilometres (183,000,000,000 ft³) of water, which is about as much as the Chagres River brings down in an average year.

With the creation of the lake many hilltops became islands. The biggest and best known of them is Barro Colorado Island, home of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI).

The lake has given its name to the Gatun structure, which may be an eroded impact crater.

Role in the canal
Gatun Lake forms a major component of the Panama Canal; the lake, including the flooded arm extending up the Chagres River, makes up 32.7 km of the raised part of the waterway, the other part being the 12.6 km Culebra Cut.

The canal follows a clearly marked route around the lake's islands, following the deeper water south from Gatun Locks, and then east. A small "shortcut" channel, the "Banana Cut", runs between the islands, providing a slightly shorter route through the lake; this is used by canal launches and yachts to cut a little time off the crossing and to avoid the heavy ship traffic.

The lake is also important as a reservoir of water for the operation of the canal locks. Each time a ship transits the canal, 202000 m3 of water is passed from the lake into the sea; with over 14,000 vessel transits per year, this represents a very large demand for water. Since rainfall is seasonal in Panama, the lake acts as a water store, allowing the canal to continue operation through the dry season.

A major factor in water regulation is the ability of the rainforest in the lake's watershed to absorb rainfall, releasing it gradually into the lake. However, significant deforestation of the watershed has cleared away much of the vegetation and reduced the area's water capacity. This has resulted in falling water levels in the lake during the dry season. Coupled with the massive increase in canal traffic since its opening, and the resultant increase in water usage, this is an ongoing problem for the canal (see ).

Supplementary benefits
Created in 1913 by the damming of the Chagres River, Gatun Lake is an essential part of the Panama Canal which forms a water passage between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, permitting ship transit in both directions. At the time it was formed, Gatun Lake was the largest man-made lake in the world. The impassable rain-forest around Gatun Lake has endured practically unscathed by human interference and is one of the few accessible areas on Earth where various native Central American animal and plant species can be observed undisturbed in their natural habitat.

Barro Colorado Island, which was established for scientific study when the lake was formed and is today operated by the Smithsonian Institution, is the largest island on Gatun Lake. Many important scientific and biological discoveries of the tropical animal and plant kingdom originated here. Lake Gatun encompasses a tropical ecological zone (part of the Atlantic Forest Corridor) and ecotourism on Gatun Lake has become an industry for Panamanians.

The peacock bass are not a native game fish of Panama but originate from the Amazon, Rio Negro, and Orinoco river basins of South America where they are called Tucanare or Pavon and are considered a premier game fish.