Lake Pontchartrain ( /ˈpɒntʃətreɪn/; French: Lac Pontchartrain, ) is a brackish estuary located in southeastern Louisiana. As an estuary, Pontchartrain is not a true lake. It is, however, part of one of the largest wetlands in North America, and the world.
It covers an area of 630 square miles (1,600 km2) with an average depth of 12 to 14 feet (3.7 to 4.3 m). Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about 40 miles (64 km) from west to east and 24 miles (39 km) from south to north. In descending order of area, the lake is located in parts of St. Tammany, Orleans, Jefferson, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, and Tangipahoa parishes.
Read more about Lake Pontchartrain: Namesake, Description, History, Conservation and Restoration, Northshore, New Orleans, Hurricanes, Funding, Popular Culture, Notable Deaths
Famous quotes containing the word lake:
“A lake is the landscape’s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth’s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature. The fluviatile trees next the shore are the slender eyelashes which fringe it, and the wooded hills and cliffs around are its overhanging brows.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)