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Old 05-18-2013, 08:21 PM
 
Location: Wyoming
9,724 posts, read 21,130,734 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GraniteStater View Post
There are no lakes in Kansas, only reservoirs....
I grew up a half mile from the Sabetha Lake. That's what it was called when I lived there 50-60 years ago and it's still called that. Yes, it has a dam and is a reservoir, but it's officially named a Lake. I moved to Iowa and watched them build Prairie Rose Lake. Same thing. They built a dam and a lake formed behind it called Prairie Rose Lake. These aren't natural lakes but most of us still call them lakes. They're bigger than a pond and smaller than an ocean, so we call them lakes. Are they reservoirs? You betcha. Are they lakes? Yup. Same with Lake Havasu, Lake Powell, Lake Mead and many other reservoirs in the U.S.

Natural Lakes aren't immune to turning into dry lakebeds either. In fact, you'll probably find more dried up natural lakes than man-made lakes because many natural lakes aren't relied upon for domestic water, power generation nor flood control.

I think it's more in the northern part of the country that we tend to call natural lakes LAKES and man-made lakes RESERVOIRS. We do that in Wyoming too, although one of our largest, Bighorn Lake, is a reservoir. Nebraska's largest reservoir is Lake McConnahey. South Dakota's largest (I believe) is Lake Oahe. If you want everyone to stop calling man-made lakes lakes, you've got a big job ahead of you.
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Old 05-18-2013, 08:46 PM
 
Location: A safe distance from San Francisco
12,350 posts, read 9,627,178 times
Reputation: 13890
Quote:
Originally Posted by WyoNewk View Post
I grew up a half mile from the Sabetha Lake. That's what it was called when I lived there 50-60 years ago and it's still called that. Yes, it has a dam and is a reservoir, but it's officially named a Lake. I moved to Iowa and watched them build Prairie Rose Lake. Same thing. They built a dam and a lake formed behind it called Prairie Rose Lake. These aren't natural lakes but most of us still call them lakes. They're bigger than a pond and smaller than an ocean, so we call them lakes. Are they reservoirs? You betcha. Are they lakes? Yup. Same with Lake Havasu, Lake Powell, Lake Mead and many other reservoirs in the U.S.

Natural Lakes aren't immune to turning into dry lakebeds either. In fact, you'll probably find more dried up natural lakes than man-made lakes because many natural lakes aren't relied upon for domestic water, power generation nor flood control.

I think it's more in the northern part of the country that we tend to call natural lakes LAKES and man-made lakes RESERVOIRS. We do that in Wyoming too, although one of our largest, Bighorn Lake, is a reservoir. Nebraska's largest reservoir is Lake McConnahey. South Dakota's largest (I believe) is Lake Oahe. If you want everyone to stop calling man-made lakes lakes, you've got a big job ahead of you.
Excellent post.

A lake is simply a considerable inland body of water. Its origin is irrelevant.

Lake - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Definition of LAKE

: a considerable inland body of standing water; also : a pool of other liquid (as lava, oil, or pitch)
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