Blue Lake (Alaska)

Infobox_lake
lake_name = Blue Lake
image_lake =
caption_lake =
image_bathymetry =
caption_bathymetry =
location = Baranof Island, Sitka City and Borough, Alaska
coords = coord|57|3|42|N|135|11|56|W|region:US-AK_type:waterbody_source:GNIS|display=inline,title
type = Reservoir
inflow = Blue Lake Valley Creek
outflow = Sawmill Creek
catchment =
basin_countries = United States
length = convert|3|mi|km|2|abbr=on|lk=on
width =
area = convert|1225|acre|km2|0
depth =
max-depth = convert|468|ft|m|0|abbr=on|lk=on
volume =
residence_time =
shore =
elevation = convert|436|ft|m|0|abbr=on|lk=on
islands =
cities =
reference = cite web |url=http://ak.water.usgs.gov/Data/water_index/southeast.lakes.pdf |title=Lake Water Quality Records and Lake Levels - Southeast Alaska |date=2002-12-18 |accessdate=2007-05-27 |format=PDF|publisher= USGS |pages=1 ] Gnis|1420534]

Blue Lake is a convert|3|mi|km long artificial lake and reservoir located convert|6|mi|km east of the town of Sitka, on the west side of Baranof Island, in Alexander Archipelago of Southeast Alaska.

History

Local descriptive name reported in 1910 by Knopf (1912, fig 4), United States Geological Survey.

Blue Lake, as its name suggests, possesses a deep blue hue to its water. Blue Lake's watersources come partially from snowpack and small glaciers from the Blue Lake valley. The lake lies in a glacially carved, U-shaped vally.

Currently, at the Sawmill Cove Industrial Park, there is a small water bottling operation utilizing the water that originates from the watershed. Two other companies retain rights to export of the water in the future.

Blue Lake was dammed by the Blue Lake Dam in 1958 greatly expanding the lake's size from convert|490|acre|km2|1 to convert|1225|acre|km2|0 and increasing its height from convert|208|ft|m|0|abbr=on to 342 ft. [cite web |url=http://www.cityofsitka.com/relicense/icd1102.pdf |title=Blue Lake Hydroelectric Project |month=November | year=2002 |accessdate=2007-05-27 |format=PDF|publisher= City of Sitka |pages=9 ] Dam fluctuations allow the lake elevation to vary up to convert|60|ft|m|0|abbr=on. The Blue Lake dam, along with the Green Lake Dam, combine to make Sitka's mainstream power sources exclusively hydroelectric.

There is also about a mile-long road that accesses Blue Lake allowing residents to put in kayaks and canoes thus allowing peaks further up the Blue Lake valley, most notably Clarence Kramer Peak, to become more accessible. Blue Lake Campground is located about two-thirds the way to the lake. The road itself is very dangerous often winding above cliff ledges, and in 2003 a young girl drove off of the road in a recently stolen vehicle killing herself. There are also many avalanche chutes located along the road which can block it in wintertime and also pose a hazard.

References