Hydrology of Indiana Lakes By ]. I. PERREY and D. M. CORBETT GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 1363 In cooperation with the Indiana Department of Conservation, Division of Water Resources UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1956 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Fred A. Seaton, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. C. - Price $1.25 (paper cover) PREFACE This report was prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources Division, C. G. Paulsen, chief, under the general di­ rection of J. V. B. Wells, chief, Surface Water Branch. The field work and the collection and tabulation of basic infor­ mation is part of a continuous cooperative program with the Divi­ sion of Water Resources of the Indiana Department of Conserva­ tion, and the preparation of the report was the culmination of this program. The data presented in this report were collected and prepared for publication under the supervision of Don M. Corbett, district engineer, Indianapolis, Ind. The sections dealing with the origin and extinction of lakes, and with ice condition, temperature and evaporation were prepared by J. I. Perrey. The introduction and the sections dealing with basic data on lake levels and stabilization of lakes were prepared jointly by J. I. Perrey and Don M. Corbett. Acknowledgement is made to Charles H. Bechert, Director, Divi­ sion of Water Resources, Indiana Department of Conservation, for furnishing the table for the section on Legal lake levels, and the gage-height hydrographs and for reviewing the report. Ill CONTENTS Page Abstract .......................................................... 1 Introduction ....................................................... 2 Hydrology of lakes .............................................. 3 Indiana laws for preservation of lakes ............................. 5 Present lake investigation ........................................ 6 Creative and destructive forces affecting lakes ........................ 7 Origin and distribution of Indiana lakes ............................ 7 Gradual extinction of northern Indiana lakes ........................ 8 Filling by organic material and marl deposits. ................... 9 Sedimentation ................................................ 10 Drainage..................................................... 11 New and enlarged lakes .......................................... 13 Temperature of lakes............................................... 14 Scope of studies ................................................. 14 Surface temperatures ............................................ 15 Temperature profiles ............................................ 17 Theory of temperature changes below the surface ................ 19 Comparison of temperature profiles in ten Indiana lakes .......... 31 Effect of size of drainage area ................................. 45 Effect of size of surface area .................................. 45 Effect of depth of water........................................ 45 "Turnover" of lakes. .......................................... 46 Implications of temperature information. ........................ 47 Evaporation from lakes ............................................. 49 Measurement of evaporation from water surfaces ................... 50 Collection of evaporation data in Indiana ........................... 51 Variation in evaporation in Indiana ................................ 52 Analyses of available records..................................... 52 Ice conditions on northern Indiana lakes. ............................. 59 Ice formation ................................................... 59 Duration of ice cover ............................................ 60 Effect of temperature ............................................ 61 Damage by ice .................................................. 65 Stabilization of lakes ............................................... 65 Improved transportation and its effect on use of lakes................ 65 Agricultural and recreational use of lakes. ......................... 66 Requirements for maintaining constant lake levels .................. 67 Problems of lake-level control on some Indiana lakes ............... 68 Effect of inflow and outflow on planning control dams ................ 69 Effect of storage in lakes on streamflow ........................... 70 Effect of control dam on Ridinger Lake ............................ 72 Basic data on lake levels for selected lakes ........................... 77 Bass Lake at Bass Lake ......................................... 78 Bear Lake at Wolflake ........................................... 84 Big Lake near Wolflake .......................................... 91 Bixler Lake at Kendallville ....................................... 98 Bruce Lake at Lake Bruce. ....................................... 104 Cedar Lake at Cedar Lake........................................ 110 Cedar Lake near Waterloo........................................ 117 Crooked Lake near Wolflake ...................................... 124 Flint Lake near Valparaiso ....................................... 130 Hamilton Lake at Hamilton ....................................... 136 Jimerson Lake at Nevada Mills ................................... 143 Koontz Lake at Koontz Lake ...................................... 152 Lake James at Lake James ....................................... 159 Lake Manitou at Rochester ....................................... 163 Loon Lake at Ormas............................................. 170 Maxinkuckee Lake at Culver ...................................... 176 VI CONTENTS Page Basic data on lake levels for selected lakes--Continued Muskelonge Lake near Warsaw ................................... 183 Ridinger Lake near Pierceton .................................... 189 Round Lake and Cedar Lake at Tri-Lakes ......................... 197 Round Lake and Clear Lake at Clear Lake ......................... 205 Shriner Lake at Tri-Lakes. ...................................... 212 Smalley Lake near Washington Center. ............................ 218 Sylvan Lake at Rome City. ....................................... 224 Syracuse Lake at Syracuse....................................... 231 Tippecanoe Lake at Oswego ...................................... 238 Lake Wawasee near Wawasee .................................... 245 Webster Lake at North Webster. .................................. 252 Winona Lake at Warsaw ......................................... 258 Legal lake levels .................................................. 266 Temperatures for selected lakes .................................... 273 Bass Lake at Bass Lake ......................................... 274 Bear Lake at Wolflake........................................... 275 Big Lake near Wolflake.......................................... 275 Bixler Lake at Kendallville ...................................... 276 Bruce Lake at Lake Bruce ....................................... 278 Cedar Lake at Cedar Lake ....................................... 279 Cedar Lake near Waterloo ....................................... 280 Crooked Lake near Wolflake ..................................... 280 Flint Lake near Valparaiso ...................................... 281 Hamilton Lake at Hamilton ...................................... 283 Jimerson Lake at Nevada Mills. .................................. 283 Koontz Lake at Koontz Lake...................................... 283 Lake James at Lake James ...................................... 284 Lake Manitou at Rochester. ...................................... 286 Loon Lake at Ormas ............................................ 286 Maxinkuckee Lake at Culver. ..................................... 286 Muskelonge Lake near Warsaw ................................... 310 Ridinger Lake near Pierceton.................................... 310 Round Lake and Cedar Lake at Tri-Lakes ......................... 310 Round Lake and Clear Lake at Clear Lake ......................... 311 Shriner Lake at Tri-Lakes....................................... 315 Smalley Lake near Washington Center. ............................ 315 Sylvan Lake at Rome City. ....................................... 315 Syracuse Lake at Syracuse....................................... 316 Tippecanoe Lake at Oswego ...................................... 316 Lake Wawasee near Wawasee .................................... 318 Webster Lake at North Webster. .................................. 319 Winona Lake at Warsaw ......................................... 320 Evaporation data. .................................................. 322 Literature cited ................................................... 344 Index............................................................. 345 ILLUSTRATIONS Page Figure 1. Sediment collector used by Scott and Miner .............. 11 2. Water temperature-density relationship ................. 18 3. Surface water and mean air temperatures, Maxinkuckee Lake .............................................. 20 4. Typical temperature profile graph with temperature zones indicated. .......................................... 23 CONTENTS VII Page Figure 5. Temperature profiles, Maxinkuckee Lake, at intervals March to May 1901................................... 25 6. Temperature profiles, Maxinkuckee Lake, at intervals May to June 1901 .................................... 27 7. Temperature