Blue Lake (Alaska)
| Blue Lake | |
|---|---|
| Location | Baranof Island, Sitka City and Borough, Alaska |
| Coordinates | 57°3′42″N 135°11′56″W / 57.06167°N 135.19889°WCoordinates: 57°3′42″N 135°11′56″W / 57.06167°N 135.19889°W[1] |
| Lake type | Reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Blue Lake Valley Creek |
| Primary outflows | Sawmill Creek |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 3 mi (4.83 km)[1] |
| Surface area | 1,225 acres (5 km2) |
| Max. depth | 468 ft (143 m) |
| Surface elevation | 436 ft (133 m)[1] |
| References | [1][2] |
Blue Lake, or Gajook Héen Yik.áayi, in the Tlingit language,[3] is a 3 miles (4.8 km) long reservoir located 6 miles (9.7 km) east of the town of Sitka, on the west side of Baranof Island, in Alexander Archipelago of Southeast Alaska.[1]
[edit] History
The local descriptive name was reported in 1910 by Knopf (1912, fig 4), in United States Geological Survey.[1]
Blue Lake, as its name suggests, possesses a deep blue hue to its water. Blue Lake's watersources come partially from snowpack and small glaciers from the Blue Lake valley. The lake lies in a glacially carved, U-shaped valley.
Currently, at the Sawmill Cove Industrial Park, there is a small water bottling operation utilizing the water that originates from the watershed. Two other companies retain rights to export of the water in the future. In 2010 a Texas company S2C Global Systems announced that it was moving forward with a plan to ship 2.9 to 9 billion US gallons (11,000,000 to 34,000,000 m3) of fresh lake water a year from Blue Lake to the west coast of India.[4] The deal would represent the world’s first regular, bulk exports of water via tanker.[5] The water will be redistributed to places in India, southeast Asia and the Middle East. The town of Sitka could earn up to $90 million a year in revenue.[5]
Blue Lake was dammed by the Blue Lake Dam in 1958 greatly expanding the lake's size from 490 acres (2.0 km2) to 1,225 acres (5 km2) and increasing its height from 208 ft (63 m) to 342 ft.[6] Dam fluctuations allow the lake elevation to vary up to 60 ft (18 m). The Blue Lake dam, along with the Green Lake Dam, combine to make Sitka's mainstream power sources exclusively hydroelectric.
There is also about a mile-long road that accesses Blue Lake allowing residents to put in kayaks and canoes thus allowing peaks further up the Blue Lake valley, most notably Clarence Kramer Peak, to become more accessible. Blue Lake Campground is located about two-thirds the way to the lake. The road itself is very dangerous often winding above cliff ledges, and in 2003 a young girl drove off of the road in a recently stolen vehicle killing herself. There are also many avalanche chutes located along the road which can block it in wintertime and also pose a hazard.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Blue Lake (Alaska)
- ^ "Lake Water Quality Records and Lake Levels - Southeast Alaska" (PDF). USGS. 2002-12-18. pp. 1. http://ak.water.usgs.gov/Data/water_index/southeast.lakes.pdf. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
- ^ Joseph, Charlie; Brady, I.; Makinen, E.; David, R.; Davis, V.; Johnson, A.; Lord, N. (2001). "Sheet’kwaan Aani Aya". Sitka Tribe of Alaska. http://www.sitkatribe.org/placenames/. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
- ^ "S2C GLOBAL ANNOUNCES INDIA WORLD WATER HUB", July 7, 2010.
- ^ a b "Alaska City Set to Ship Water to India, U.S. Company Announces", Circle of Blue, July 11, 2010
- ^ "Blue Lake Hydroelectric Project" (PDF). City of Sitka. November 2002. pp. 9. Archived from the original on 2007-02-03. http://web.archive.org/web/20070203043921/http://www.cityofsitka.com/relicense/icd1102.pdf. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
