Harney Lake
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| Harney Lake | |
|---|---|
| Location | southeast Oregon |
| Coordinates | |
| Lake type | alkali lake |
| Basin countries | United States |
Harney Lake is a shallow alkali lake basin located in southeast Oregon, United States, approximately thirty miles south of the town of Burns. The lake lies within the boundary of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and is the lowest point in the Blitzen Valley drainage.
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[edit] History
The lake is known by several names:[1]
- Salt Lake in 1838, named by the Bureau of Topographical Engineers on Map of the United States, Territory of Oregon.
- Tonowama: the USGS board of names cites Oregon Geographic Names by Lewis, A. and Lewis L. McArthur.[2]
- Lake Harney: USGS cites Oregon Geographic Names[2]
Despite a history of 9,000 years of human inhabitation on Harney Lake by the Northern Piaute Indians primarily as nomadic wintering camps, little sign of modern human inhabitation is evident on Harney Lake. The nearest residents live in the ghost town of Narrows.[3][4]
Harney Lake is the site of a scandal from the 1970s. An out-of-state entrepreneur bought several thousand acres of adjoining desert sagebrush and marketed the property with slick advertisements and brochures showing people water skiing and swimming on the lake with fraudulent photographs. Hundreds of people from across the United Stated bought property site unseen for $40 an acre with dreams of building lake front vacation homes. When the property owners visited their deeded sections, most abandoned their title and the properties reverted to county ownership for failure to pay yearly tax obligations.[citation needed]
[edit] Water level
During wet years, the lake receives water from Malheur Lake, located approximately 10 miles to the east. The depth of Harney Lake is less than four feet during normal water years and has dried up completely during times of drought.
As typical to other alkali lake beds in the western United States, minimal aquatic life is found in Harney Lake. A species of inland brine shrimp is the only form of life in Harney Lake. Despite its limited food supply, the lake is part of an important inland marsh ecosystem for migratory birds in the arid southeast Oregon desert.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ [USGS GNIS: Harney Lake Feature Detail Report Harney Lake]. USGS. Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
- ^ a b Lewis, A. and Lewis L. McArthur (1992). Oregon Geographic Names, 6th ed., Oregon Historical Press, 957pp. 1974/p.342.
- ^ Henry Chenowith. Narrows- Oregon Ghost Town. Ghost Towns, Atjeu Publishing. Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
- ^ A visit to Narrows, Oregon. Roadside Thoughts. Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
[edit] External links
- Photo of merging lakes spilling over Frenchglen Highway
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