Lake Mayfield is a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

located near Mossyrock, Washington, in Lewis County. It was created by Mayfield Dam on the

Cowlitz River The Cowlitz River is a river in the state of Washington in the United States, a tributary of the Columbia River. Its tributaries drain a large region including the slopes of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens. The Cowlitz has a ...

, one of the dams in the Columbia River watershed.

History

The Mayfield Dam was constructed in 1963 as a concrete arch and gravity dam. At high and capable of generating 162 megawatts, it supplies

Tacoma Power Tacoma Power is a public utility providing electrical power to Tacoma, Washington and the surrounding areas. Tacoma Power serves the cities of Tacoma, University Place, Fircrest, and Fife, and also provides service to parts of Steilacoom, L ...

with a large percentage of its entire hydroelectric power supply, second only to

Mossyrock Dam Mossyrock Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam on the Cowlitz River near Mossyrock in Lewis County, Washington, United States. The reservoir created by the dam is called Riffe Lake. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric production wh ...

Environment and ecology

The lake is home to tiger muskies. Tiger muskies were introduced in 1993 to help control

northern pikeminnow The Northern pikeminnow, Columbia River dace or colloquially Squawfish (''Ptychocheilus oregonensis'') is a large member of the minnow family, Leuciscidae. This predatory freshwater fish is native to northwestern North America, ranging from the N ...

(squawfish) populations. In 1997, after an act of vandalism that destroyed a

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...

nest near the lake, an artificial nest was built with help from a Boy Scout troop from

Shoreline A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

Recreation

The Cowlitz River Arm is significantly colder than the rest of the lake due to its proximity to the Riffe Lake which is created by Mossyrock Dam. The water from Riffe Lake flows through the Mossyrock Powerhouse's two hydroelectric generators. The

Tilton River The Tilton River is a tributary of the Cowlitz River, in the U.S. state of Washington. Named for the first territorial surveyor for Washington Territory James Tilton (surveyor), it flows for about , entirely within Lewis County. Course The T ...

arm is much warmer and shallower due to past landslides. Ike Kinswa State Park is located on a

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

bounded by the Cowlitz River and the Tilton River. The lake contains an island with a lighthouse. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, there were many water ski and wake board tournaments held on the lake's Winston Creek arm where the Lake Mayfield Resort is located. The Mayfield Lake Youth camp is located up the Winston Creek arm adjacent to the Winston Creek Falls.

References

{{authority control Mayfield Mayfield Protected areas of Lewis County, Washington Tacoma Public Utilities

History

Environment and ecology

Recreation

See also

References