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Sebago Lake |
| Sebago Lake | |
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| Location | Cumberland County, Maine |
| Coordinates | |
| Lake type | oligotrophic |
| Primary outflows | Presumpscot River |
| Catchment area | 440 square miles (1,100 km²)[1] |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 12 mi (19 km) |
| Surface area | 30,513 acres (12,348 ha)[1] |
| Average depth | 107 ft (33 m)[1] |
| Max. depth | 316 ft (96 m)[1] |
| Water volume | 3,224,233 acre·ft (3.977033×109 m³)[1] |
| Residence time (of lake water) | 5.1 to 5.4 yrs |
| Shore length1 | 6.4 miles (10.3 km)[1] |
| Surface elevation | 267 ft (81 m)[1] |
| Islands | Frye Island |
| Settlements | Casco, Naples, Raymond, Sebago, Standish and Windham |
| References | [1] |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Sebago Lake is the deepest and second largest lake in the U.S. state of Maine. The lake is 316 feet (96 m) deep at its deepest point, with a mean depth of 101 feet (31 m), covers about 45 square miles (117 km²) in surface area, has a length of 12 miles (19 km) and a shoreline length of 105 miles (169 km).[2] The surface is around 270 feet (82 m) above sea level, so the deep bottom is below the present sea level.[3] It is located in Cumberland County, Maine and bordered by the towns of Casco, Naples, Raymond, Sebago, Standish and Windham. The seasonally occupied town of Frye Island is on an island in the lake.[4]
The lake is connected to Brandy Pond by the Songo River and eventually to Long Lake in Naples. The name comes from a local Native American tribe. The lake is drained primarily by the Presumpscot River. Prior to construction of a railroad in 1870, Sebago Lake was linked to Portland harbor by the Cumberland and Oxford Canal. The outlet to the river has been dammed since 1875 by the Eel Weir Dam and the Head Dam, owned and operated by the S. D. Warren Paper Mill. [5] [6]
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Sebago Lake is the primary water supply for the Portland Water District, which serves the Greater Portland region and about 15% of Maine's population. The lake's watershed is more than 50 miles (80 km) long and covers parts of 24 Maine towns.[7]
The lake holds roughly 995 billion gallons of water that on average resides 5.1 to 5.4 years in the lake. The direct watershed is about 171 square miles (443 km²) of land plus the 45 square miles (117 km²) of the lake, and the indirect watershed about 190 square miles (490 km²) of land plus about 28 square miles (73 km²) of other bodies of water. As of May 1990, roughly 86% of the watershed was forests and fallow fields, 2.5% in active timber operations, 9.3% in residential, agricultural, and commercial use, and 2.2% used for other purposes. Water inflow is estimated at 544 million gallons per day and outflow at 498 million gallons per day, of which 24 million gallons/day are for the water district.[8]
In 1938, Maine opened Sebago Lake State Park as one of its original five state parks. The area was a recreation center even before this. The park is now 1,400 acres (mostly forested), open year-round, and has facilities including two public boat launches and a 250-site campground.[9] There are also numerous private campgrounds, cottages, and other recreational facilities in the area. Sebago Lake is located in the portion of Maine that the Maine tourism industry refers to as the Western Lakes and Mountains Region.
The lake contains natural populations of land-locked salmon (Salmo salar sebago) and smelt. When the last major glaciers retreated, the entire watershed was under seawater, and populations of these marine animals became established as the land rose and sea waters retreated.[10] Other game fish that can be found in the lake include lake trout, brook trout, brown trout, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, and northern pike.[11] Some of these are stocked by the state, either in the lake directly or in connected bodies of water, while others were introduced illegally.[12] The state encourages anglers to kill, hold, and notify them of all northern pike taken in the lake because they were introduced illegally, are not native to the region, and could disrupt the lake ecosystem. [13]
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