Lake Pátzcuaro (Spanish: ''Lago de Pátzcuaro'') is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in the municipality of

Pátzcuaro Pátzcuaro () is a city and municipality located in the state of Michoacán. The town was founded sometime in the 1320s, at first becoming the capital of the Purépecha Empire and later its ceremonial center. After the Spanish took over, Vasco de ...

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. Lake Pátzcuaro lies in an

endorheic basin An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

, which does not drain to the sea. A watershed area of 929 square kilometres drains into the lake, of which 126.4 are the water body. The Lake Pátzcuaro watershed extends 50 kilometres east–west and 33 kilometres from north to south. Lake Pátzcuaro lies at an elevation of 1,920 metres, and is the center of the basin and is surrounded by volcanic mountains with very steep slopes. It has an average depth of 5 metres and a maximum of 11. Its volume is approximately 580 million cubic metres."Descripción de la cuenca", ''Recuperación Ambiental del Lago de Pátzcuaro". Accessed October 18, 2009

The Lake Pátzcuaro basin is of volcanic origin. At times it has been part of an open and continuous hydrological system formed by Lake Cuitzeo, Pátzcuaro and

Lake Zirahuén Lake Zirahuén is a small endorheic lake in the municipality of Santa Clara del Cobre in Michoacán, Mexico. It is a deep mountain lake with a sandy bottom that is partially covered with mud. It covers an area of and has a volume of . At time ...

, which drained into the Lerma River. Today, like lakes Cuitzeo and Zirahuén, it is a closed basin, although ecologists consider it a sub-basin of the Lerma-Chapala basin.

Wetlands

The lake is surrounded by extensive

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (Anoxic waters, anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in t ...

s, which have been designated as a

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Cattail ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in ...

s and other reedy vegetation are the dominant wetland vegetation, in dense stands over 2 meters tall. Typical wetland plant genera include ''

Typha ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in ...

'', ''

Scirpus ''Scirpus'' is a genus of grass-like species in the sedge family Cyperaceae many with the common names club-rush, wood club-rush or bulrush (see also bulrush for other plant genera so-named). They mostly inhabit wetlands and damp locations. Taxo ...

'', '' Eleocharis'', and ''

Cyperus ''Cyperus'' is a large genus of about 700 species of sedges, distributed throughout all continents in both tropical and temperate regions. Description They are annual or perennial plants, mostly aquatic and growing in still or slow-moving ...

''. The dominant species of aquatic vegetation are '' Potamogeton illinoensis'', '' Scirpus pectinatus'', '' Typha latifolia'', '' T. domingensis'', and ''

Nymphaea mexicana ''Nymphaea mexicana'' is a species of aquatic plant that is native to the Southern United States and Mexico as far south as Michoacán. Common names include yellow water lily, Mexican water lily and banana water lily. Role as invasive species '' ...

''. The wetlands are extremely important for birds, both year-round inhabitants and migrating waterfowl. Close to 200 species inhabit the wetlands, including some endemic species such as the black-polled yellowthroat (''Geothlypis speciosa''). Two native species have not been observed recently; the yellow rail ''(Coturnicops noveboracensis)'' has not been seen since 1964 and may be locally extinct, and the endemic slender-billed grackle (''Quiscalus palustris'') is presumed extinct. The Lake Pátzcuaro salamander (''Ambystoma dumerilii'') is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the basin. Among other aquatic or semi-aquatic animals, several are largely or entirely restricted to the Lake Pátzcuaro system, such as the rough-footed mud turtle of the subspecies ''tarascense'', the essentially harmless Mexican garter snake of the subspecies ''patzcuaroensis'', the fish Pátzcuaro chub (''Algansea lacustris'') and Pátzcuaro allotoca (''Allotoca diazi''), and the dwarf crayfish '' Cambarellus patzcuarensis''. The lake and its surrounding wetlands have undergone significant environmental changes over the past 50 years. logging and agriculture in the surrounding watershed have contributed to siltation of the lake (1 cm / year - 1.2 million cubic meters / year), and water diversion for agriculture and urbanization has reduced the size of the lake by 40 square kilometers, and 2.6 meters in depth. Other threats include untreated sewage, the introduction of exotic species, and chemical pollution."Indicadores del deterioro ambiental", ''Recuperación Ambiental del Lago de Pátzcuaro". Accessed October 18, 2009

/ref> In February 2021, members of the Supreme Indigenous Council of Michoacán (CSIM) noted that political opportunism, corruption, and a lack of coordination have undermined efforts to clean up the lake. They noted that since 2006 MXN $5 billion has been spent, and since 1934, 2,300 studies have been conducted, yet 79% of the inhabitants of

, Erongarícuaro, Quiroga, and Tzintzuntzan live in poverty and 40% in

extreme poverty Extreme poverty, deep poverty, abject poverty, absolute poverty, destitution, or penury, is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, includi ...

Watershed

In the watershed surrounding the wetlands, the natural terrestrial vegetation is composed of xeric scrub (1,920-2,100 m above sea level), pine and oak forests intertwined with xeric scrub (2,100-2,400 m) and by pure pine-oak forests in the higher peaks (2,400-2,900 m). The pine-oak forests are part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

. In the last fifty years, human activity in the watershed has intensified. Farming and livestock ranching in the basin have significantly increased. Over 10,000 hectares of forest have been lost to logging, fires, fuelwood gathering, and clearance for farming and ranching.

History

The Lake Pátzcuaro basin is home to the Purépecha people. Purépecha leaders established the basin as the heartland of the Tarascan state, which rivaled the

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance ( nci, Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ was an alliance of three Nahua city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled that area in and around the Valley of Mexi ...

before the Spanish conquest. The towns of

Ihuatzio Ihuatzio, which translates to "Land of Coyotes" in the Purépecha language, is a town located near Lake Pátzcuaro in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It was once the capital of the Purépecha kingdom. It was the capital until the change to Tzin ...

, Tzintzuntzan and

were important Purépecha centers.

Islands in the lake

* Jaracuaro * Uranden - Small island. *

Janitzio Isla de Janitzio is the main island of Lake Pátzcuaro in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. The town of Janitzio, which means "where it rains", is located atop the hill. Janitzio can only be reached by boats which run regularly back and forth fro ...

- Island with tourist facilities * Pacanda - The largest, flattest island. Cabanas for rent. * Yunuen - Small island * Tecuena - Sparsely populated island

Major towns along the lake shore

- Situated on the southeastern shore of Lake Patzcuaro * Erongarícuaro - Historic Purépecha site * Quiroga - Thriving market town * Tzintzuntzan - Market town with ruins nearby - Capital of the P'urhépechas

Minor towns along the lake shore

* Tocuaro - woodworking and maskmaking * Opongio - mezcal distillery * Puacuaro * Arocutin *

- ancient temple ruins called yacatas. * Santa Fe La Laguna - crafts * Cucuchuchu * Uricho * Napizaro * Erongarícuaro

Nearby areas

Santa Clara del Cobre Santa Clara del Cobre () is a Magical town ( Pueblo Mágico) and municipality located in the center of the state of Michoacán, Mexico, 18 km from Pátzcuaro and 79 km from the state capital of Morelia. While the official name of the mun ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake Patzcuaro Patzcuaro Patzcuaro Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt Landforms of Michoacán Ramsar sites in Mexico Important Bird Areas of Mexico