About Eagle LakeBy Valerie Aubrey, Copyright 2006/revised 2009
Eagle Lake is located in northeastern California at an elevation of approximately 5100 feet. The elevation of the lake depends on how high the water is on any given year. It is California’s second largest natural lake (Clear Lake being the largest). There are four communities on Eagle Lake; Eagles Nest (summer homes, no amenities) on the east side of the south basin, Spalding (summer resort, year round residents) located on the west side of the middle basin, Bucks Bay (homes only ,no amenities, access to BLM’s Rocky Point Campground (outhouses during the season, primitive, no picnic tables), located at the northwest end of Bucks Bay and Stones Landing (year-round and summer homes, no winter amenities) located at the northwest end of the north basin.
You are viewing: Where Is Eagle Lake
Read more : Where Is Carlita Kilpatrick
Eagle Lake has long been known for having heavy winds (typically in the afternoon but can come up much earlier) that create large swells and waves. Quite often small craft warnings are issued for Almanor and Eagle Lake. As a rule of thumb; if you wait until the wind swooshes passed your ears it’s already to late to beat it back to the docks. The lake is roughly 16 miles long and about 6 miles wide at its widest point so it can be quite a long way back to the docks depending on where you may be fishing.
Nearly every summer we have an algae bloom on the lake. Some years it is worse that others. The algae bloom increases in the north and middle basins when the lake elevation is low. Much of it caused by props stirring up the nutrients and fertilizing it to a heavy brown carpet covering the surface most of the summer. The algae bloom can really affect the fishing in many areas of the lake. It is a temporary condition and typically there are dirty areas of the lake and cleaner areas of the lake. I usually have those areas listed in my report. It can last about 3 weeks or longer and can ruin a fishing vacation for some folks. However, we do find clean water to fish in until the bloom is over. Note that the algae does plug up water pumps on jet boats as well as intakes on outboards and outdrives. It can stick in water pump tubing, water jackets and thermostats so be sure to keep an eye on your gages if you choose to go several miles through it.
Read more : Where To Find Buttermilk
Unlike other lakes in the state, Eagle Lake is an alkaline inland body of water. The pH of the lake is in the 9’s while other freshwater lakes are a neutral 7 on the logarithmic scale. The pH rises during the hot summer months posing problems with catching and releasing these beautiful trout, especially during years of drought and poor water quality. Eagle Lake has long been a spiritual place. You can hear the whispers of the ancient Native Americans as the wind blows through the pines and sage. Check out the Cultural History page.
However the pioneers in the late 1800’s began several attempts at building a tunnel that would transfer irrigation water from Eagle Lake to the ranchers and farmers in the Honey Lake Valley via Willow Creek Valley. The Bly Tunnel (the only successfully completed tunnel) , located near Miner’s Point and the CSUC Biology station at the northeast side of the south basin, was finished in 1922 and drained 30 to 40 feet of water off of Eagle Lake. Both the north and the middle basin were completely dry and were used for farming and ranching. It was later found that the water from Eagle Lake was too alkaline and killed most all the crops it watered but if it is mixed with spring water in Willow Creek and the Susan River the diluted lake water is just fine. A rockslide helped seal the tunnel not too long after. Several books are available that really go into the pioneer history of the lake. Many are available locally during the fishing season. In 2008 local citizens complained about Eagle Lake water flowing out of a pipe at the Bly Tunnel (after testing the pH and finding it very close to the lake water at that time). Public outcry in 2009 caused the State to revist the water rights issue again. The water rights for the Bly Tunnel have a long history of having been revoked and removed by the state which is all contained in the Eagle Lake Basin Plan (based on the VAIL Report which was agreed upon by all agencies as the basis for the EL Basin Plan). After the EL Basin Plan was in affect, BLM installed an 8 inch pipe (planned on a 6 inch but it was increased and hand written in on the plans). The pipe was installed to abide by “perceived water rights” which obviously had previously been revoked and at that time revisited again (1977-1985). The flow of the pipe depends on the lake level and increases and decreases with that level. Estimates of water lost through the pipe from calculations taking lake levels into the equation have shown that anywhere from 5 to 8 ft of water has been drained off Eagle Lake since the pipe was installed. Dec 21, 2011 the State Water Resource Control Board Water Rights Division issued a request for BLM to close the valves that carry Eagle Lake water into Willow Creek. On Feb 2, 2012 BLM closed the valves. By Feb 16, 2012 a major water study has been initiciated for the entire Eagle Lake basin.
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHERE
