| Harper Lake | |
|---|---|
| Harper Dry Lake Marsh, diminished by years of agricultural diversion | |
| Location | Mojave Desert San Bernardino County, California |
| Lake type | Endorheic basin |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 16 km (9.9 mi) |
| Max. width | 7 km (4.3 mi) |
| Shore length1 | 45 km (28 mi) |
| Surface elevation | 617 m (2,024 ft) |
| Settlements | Lockhart, California |
| References | U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Harper Lake |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Harper Lake is a dry lake located in the Mojave Desert near the small community of Lockhart in northwestern San Bernardino County of Southern California. The lake is accessible from Harper Lake Road, which runs north off of State Route 58 midway between Boron and Barstow.
Contents |
Harper Lake contained water and a natural marsh into the early 20th century, until agricultural development depleted the groundwater that sustained its level. The lake and marsh wetlands attracted large numbers of migrating birds and supported a variety of resident desert wildlife in the oasis habitat. With adjacent agriculture only the southwest corner of the reduced lake was marshland, sustained by a small amount of surface runoff from nearby farms. Into the early 1990s the wildlife was still supported by the remnant habitat.
The lake became dry and the marsh died in the latter 1990s, following the alfalfa farm next to the lake shutting down, and the migrating and resident wildlife dropped. When a new solar power plant was built just to the west of the lake , it was required to pump groundwater to the lake. However, this never occurred as the company that owned the 160 megawatt plant went bankrupt. After the bankruptcy was resolved, the concerns of Edwards Air Force Base regarding bird strikes and bureaucratic issues halted restoration progress.
Meanwhile, Luz Solar Partners and NextEra Energy Resources, the new owners of the Solar Energy Generating Systems power plant, delivered water to the lake as requested by the Bureau of Land Management-BLM through an informal agreement. In 2005, a new petition was filed by Friends of Harper Lake with the BLM and California Energy Commission, which approved the amendments to the project. Up to 75 acre feet (93,000 m3) of water per year will be managed by the BLM and transferred to the lake as part of the mitigation agreement for solar field expansion.
On March 25, 2009, an F-22 Raptor crashed on the lakebed, resulting in the death of a test pilot for the constructor, Lockheed.[1]