
Lake Chapala ( es, Lago de Chapala, ) is
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
's largest freshwater
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 lar ...
.
[ It lies in the municipalities of Ocotlán, ]Chapala Chapala may refer to:
* Chapala, Jalisco, a town in the Mexican state of Jalisco, on the northern shore of Lake Chapala
* Lake Chapala, the largest freshwater lake in Mexico, in the states of Jalisco and Michoacán
* ''Chapala'', a 1899 painting ...
, Jocotepec, Poncitlán, and Jamay
The municipality and town of Jamay is located in the eastern portion of Jalisco, Mexico, at coordinates , at a height of above sea level. The municipality extends from 20° 25' to 20° 13' N, and from 102° 38' to 102° 44' W.
It covers 174.4 ...
, in Jalisco
Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal ...
, and in Venustiano Carranza
José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza (; 29 December 1859 – 21 May 1920) was a Mexican wealthy land owner and politician who was Governor of Coahuila when the constitutionally elected president Francisco I. Madero was overthrown in a Februa ...
and Cojumatlán de Régules
Cojumatlán de Régules is a municipality in the Mexican state of Michoacán, located west of the state capital of Morelia.
Geography
The municipality of Cojumatlán de Régules is located in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt in northwest Michoac ...
, in 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 ...
.
Geography
Geographic features
It is located at , southeast of Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadala ...
, and is situated on the border between the states of Jalisco
Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal ...
and 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 ...
, at 1,524 metres (5000 feet) above sea level. Its approximate dimensions are from east to west and averages 12.5 km (7.8 miles) from north to south, and covers an approximate area of .
It is a shallow lake, with a mean depth of and a maximum of .
It is fed by the Río Lerma, Río Zula, Río Huaracha, and Río Duero
The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part o ...
rivers, and drained by the Rio Grande de Santiago. The water then would normally flow northwest into the Pacific Ocean. No water has flowed out of the lake in over 30 years due to a fall in the supply of incoming water from the Lerma River.
Islands
The lake contains three small islands: Isla de los Alacranes
Isla de los Alacranes (Scorpion Island) is an island in Lake Chapala, in the Mexican state of Jalisco.
It is so called because it is shaped as a scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are ...
(most visible from the town of Chapala), Isla Mezcala (the largest island, featuring an old Spanish fort and an old Mexican prison), and a third very small island next to Isla Mezcala called La Isla Menor.
Mountains
There are many mountains and sierras that surround Lake Chapala: Cerro Viejo-Chupinaya-Los Sabinos (Sierra San Juan Cosalá), Cerro San Miguel-Chiquihuitillo, Cerro San Bartolo-Los Ocotes, Cerro Gomeño, Cerro de García-Del Picacho-El Gachupín (Sierra del Tigre).
Ecology
The city of Guadalajara has relied on Lake Chapala as a principal source of water since the 1950s.[
Shortly after, a few consecutive years of poor rainfall dramatically decreased the water level of the lake. The level rebounded until 1979, when Lake Chapala's water level began rapidly decreasing due to increases in urban water consumption.
Erosion due to deforestation along the lake as well as the ]Lerma River
The Lerma River ( es, Río Lerma) is Mexico's second longest river. It is a river in west-central Mexico that begins in Mexican Plateau at an altitude over above sea level, and ends where it empties into Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake, nea ...
has led to increased sedimentation of the lake, also contributing to loss of lake depth. The shrinking depth has also raised the lake's average temperature, resulting in increased evaporation.
Simultaneously, the waters of Lake Chapala are polluted by municipal, industrial and agricultural wastes, coming primarily from the Lerma River. The increased presence of nutrients from the pollution combined with the warmer water has been a boon to an invasive species of water hyacinth
''Pontederia crassipes'' (formerly ''Eichhornia crassipes''), commonly known as common water hyacinth is an aquatic plant native to South America, naturalized throughout the world, and often invasive outside its native range.[Chirostoma
''Chirostoma'' is a genus of Neotropical silversides from the Lerma River basin in Mexico, including lakes Chapala and Pátzcuaro. Fish in the genus collectively go by the common name charal/charales in their native range (a name also used for t ...]
'') are on the verge of extinction. Contaminated fish stock has also posed a serious threat to the health and livelihoods of people who depend on the fish for food.
The drop in the lake's water level has uncovered political issues that had been hidden for many years. Its fast decay has raised concern in the surrounding areas and in the scientific community. It was the Global Nature Fund's "Threatened Lake of the Year" in 2004.
By 2007 and 2008, the level of Lake Chapala had increased drastically, though the levels have yet to surpass the level in 1979, when the levels began a precipitous decline. Although it is still subject to agricultural, domestic, and industrial sources of contamination, the actual levels of hazardous materials has not been officially assessed with regularity.
Although water level and quality improved due to water treatment plants along the Lerma river, in 2017 the water quality of Lake Chapala was assessed as a risk to public health.
In 2018, the Lake Chapala water level was at 81.68% of capacity, up from 66.66% in 2017.
Habitat and species
The lake is a critical habitat for several species of migratory birds, such as the American white pelican
The American white pelican (''Pelecanus erythrorhynchos'') is a large aquatic soaring bird from the order Pelecaniformes. It breeds in interior North America, moving south and to the coasts, as far as Central America and South America, in winte ...
, and home to thousands of indigenous plants and animals. The Audubonistas de Laguna de Chapala holds an annual Audubon Society sponsored Christmas Bird Count
The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a census of birds in the Western Hemisphere, performed annually in the early Northern-hemisphere winter by volunteer birdwatchers and administered by the National Audubon Society. The purpose is to provide pop ...
. In 2006, some 117 species were identified and, in 2007, the count was 125. By January 2011, some 173 species were recorded.
The subspecies ''chapalaense'' of the rough-footed mud turtle
The rough-footed mud turtle (''Kinosternon hirtipes'') is a species of mud turtle in the family Kinosternidae. The species is endemic to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.
Geographic range
''K. hirtipes'' is found in the Unite ...
is largely restricted to Lake Chapala, while the more widespread subspecies ''murrayi'' inhabits the Lerma River basin (and some other regions in northern Mexico). The essentially harmless, semi-aquatic ''obscurus'' subspecies of the Mexican garter snake
The Mexican garter snake (''Thamnophis eques'') is a species of snake of the family Colubridae. It is found in Mexico and in the United States (Arizona and New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuev ...
is restricted to the lake.
In addition to the ''Chirostoma'' ("charales") species flock
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
of fish, the lake and associated rivers are home to many other 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 els ...
s, including several goodeids, a few ''Algansea
''Algansea'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Leuciscidae, distributed in the Lerma–Chapala– Grande de Santiago, Pátzcuaro, Armería, Ameca, Ayutla and Tuxpan basins in west-central Mexico (mostly Jalisco, but also surroundin ...
'' chubs, two ''Tetrapleurodon
''Tetrapleurodon'' is a genus of lampreys that are endemic to the Lerma–Chapala basin in west–central Mexico. Both species are threatened.
Species
There are two recognized species in this genus according to FishBase. They are sometimes incl ...
'' lampreys, two ''Ictalurus
''Ictalurus'' is a genus of North American freshwater catfishes. It includes the well-known channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') and blue catfish (''Ictalurus furcatus'').
The catfish genome database (cBARBEL) is a database for the genetics ...
'' catfish, the Chapala chub (''Yuriria chapalae'') and more. Several of these are highly threatened.[ Other aquatic species found only in the lake and associated water systems are four cambarid crayfish: '' Cambarellus chapalanus'', '' C. lermensis'', '' C. prolixus'' and '' Procambarus digueti''.]
Communities
There are numerous towns and cities along the coast of Lake Chapala, including San Juan Tecomatlan, Chapala Chapala may refer to:
* Chapala, Jalisco, a town in the Mexican state of Jalisco, on the northern shore of Lake Chapala
* Lake Chapala, the largest freshwater lake in Mexico, in the states of Jalisco and Michoacán
* ''Chapala'', a 1899 painting ...
, Ajijic
Ajijic () is a town about west from the town of Chapala, part of the municipality (also named Chapala), in the State of Jalisco, Mexico. It is situated on the north shore of Lake Chapala, surrounded by mountains. Ajijic enjoys a moderate climate ...
, San Antonio Tlayacapan, Jocotepec, San Juan Cosala, San Luis Soyatlán
San Luis Soyatlán () is a town located in the state of Jalisco in central-western Mexico, and is part of the municipality of Tuxcueca. It is the most populous town of the municipality, where more than 60% of the population exists, and generating ...
, Mezcala de la Asunción, Tizapan El Alto, La Palma, Michoacán and Ocotlán.
According to Tony Burton in his book, "Lake Chapala through the ages: an anthology of traveller’s tales", westerners have been interested in Lake Chapala since Spanish Conquistadors first arrived uninvited in 1530. Lake Chapala tourism started in the 19th century and steadily pick up in the early 20th century.[ Beginning in the 1950s, because of the pleasant climate and attractive scenery, a substantial colony of retirees, including many from the ]United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
and Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
, have been established along the lake's shore, particularly in the town of Ajijic
Ajijic () is a town about west from the town of Chapala, part of the municipality (also named Chapala), in the State of Jalisco, Mexico. It is situated on the north shore of Lake Chapala, surrounded by mountains. Ajijic enjoys a moderate climate ...
, located just west of the city of Chapala Chapala may refer to:
* Chapala, Jalisco, a town in the Mexican state of Jalisco, on the northern shore of Lake Chapala
* Lake Chapala, the largest freshwater lake in Mexico, in the states of Jalisco and Michoacán
* ''Chapala'', a 1899 painting ...
but also in many other towns like San Nicolas De Ibarra, San Juan Tecomatlan and Tlachichilco Del Carmen. An estimated 30,000 foreign residents live along the shores of Lake Chapala.
References
External links
*
Lake Chapala
Lake Chapala Ramsar site map
Ramsar Sites Information Service
{{Authority control
Chapala Chapala may refer to:
* Chapala, Jalisco, a town in the Mexican state of Jalisco, on the northern shore of Lake Chapala
* Lake Chapala, the largest freshwater lake in Mexico, in the states of Jalisco and Michoacán
* ''Chapala'', a 1899 painting ...
Landforms of Jalisco
Landforms of Michoacán
Ramsar sites in Mexico
Important Bird Areas of Mexico