| Cayuga Lake | |
|---|---|
 Cayuga Lake as viewed from theJohnson Museum atCornell University | |
  Cayuga Lake Cayuga Lake (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Location | Cayuga /Seneca /Tompkins counties,New York, U.S. |
| Group | Finger Lakes |
| Coordinates | 42°41′17″N76°42′8″W / 42.68806°N 76.70222°W /42.68806; -76.70222 |
| Lake type | Ground moraine |
| Primary inflows | Fall Creek,Cayuga Inlet,Salmon Creek,Taughannock Creek,Six Mile Creek |
| Primary outflows | Seneca River |
| Catchment area | 2,033 km2 (785 sq mi) |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 61.4 km (38.2 mi) |
| Max. width | 3.5 mi (5.6 km) |
| Surface area | 172 km2 (66 sq mi) |
| Average depth | 54.5 m (179 ft) |
| Max. depth | 133 m (436 ft) |
| Water volume | 9.4 km3 (2.3 cu mi) |
| Residence time | 18.2 years |
| Shore length1 | 153.4 km (95.3 mi) |
| Surface elevation | 381.9 ft (116.4 m) |
| Islands | 2(Frontenac Island and Canoga Island) |
| Settlements | seearticle |
| References | [1][2][3] |
| 1 Shore length isnot a well-defined measure. | |
Cayuga Lake (/kəˈjuːɡə/kə-YOO-ghə,/keɪˈjuːɡə/kay-YOO-ghə, or/kaɪˈjuːɡə/kye-YOO-ghə) is aFinger Lake in centralNew York state. Spanning three counties -Cayuga,Seneca, andTompkins - it is the longest, second largest (in surface area, marginally smaller thanSeneca), and second largest in volume. It is just under 39 miles (63 km) long, with an average width of 1.7 miles (2.8 km), and is 3.5 mi wide (5.6 km) at its widest point, nearAurora. It is approximately 435 ft deep (133 m) at its deepest point, and has over 95 miles (153 km) of shoreline.[2]
The lake is named after the indigenousCayuga people.[4]
The Cayuga, whose name translates to "People of the Great Swamp," are one of the founding members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, also known as the Iroquois League. This alliance of Indigenous nations originally formed in what is now New York State. The Cayuga traditionally lived in the Finger Lakes region, specifically around Cayuga Lake. Their territory was situated between the lands of the Onondaga to the east and the Seneca to the west—two other nations within the Haudenosaunee alliance. Today, Cayuga descendants are part of several recognized communities.[5]
The city ofIthaca, home toIthaca College andCornell University, is located at the southern end of Cayuga Lake.
On its northern tip lies the town ofSeneca Falls, which was the site of theSeneca Falls Convention on women's rights, as well as the model for the town of Bedford Falls in whichFrank Capra'sIt's A Wonderful Life was set. The Town of Seneca Falls comprises 25.3 square miles and is one of ten townships in Seneca County; it is also the county's largest community with approximately 8,650 residents.
Villages and settlements along the east shore of Cayuga Lake includeMyers,King Ferry,Aurora,Levanna,Union Springs, andCayuga. Settlements along the west shore of the lake includeSheldrake,Romulus, andCanoga.
The lake has two small islands, uninhabited Frontenac in the northeast near Union Springs, and Canoga in the northwest near the town of Canoga. This island has several camps and is inhabited during the summer months. The only other island in any of the Finger Lakes isSkenoh Island inCanandaigua Lake.
The lake has the steep east and west sides and shallow north and south ends typical of theglacially carved Finger Lakes, which date to the lastIce Age.
The water level is regulated by the Mud Lock at the north end of the lake. It is connected toLake Ontario by theErie Canal, andSeneca Lake by theSeneca River. The lake is drawn down as winter approaches, to minimize ice damage and to maximize its capacity to store heavy spring runoff.
The north end is dominated by shallowmudflats and marsh, which provide an important stopover formigratory birds and are part of theMontezuma National Wildlife Refuge. The southern end is also shallow and often freezes during the winter.
Cayuga Lake is very popular among recreational boaters. TheAllan H. Treman State Marine Park at the southern end of the lake in Ithaca offers a large state marina and boat launch. On the western shore areIthaca Yacht Club, a few miles north of Ithaca, and Red Jacket Yacht Club, just south of Canoga. There are several other marinas and boat launches scattered along the lake shore.
Cayuga Lake is the source of drinking water for several communities, including Lansing, near the southern end of the lake along the east side, which draws water through theBolton Point Water System. Severallake source cooling systems operate on the lake, whereby cooler water is pumped from the depths of the lake and used to cool warm water from buildings, which is returned to them cooled (in a form ofheat pump transfer). One of these systems, which is operated by Cornell University and began operation in 2000, was controversial during the planning and building stages, due to its potential for having a negative environmental impact. However, all of the environmental impact reports and scientific studies have shown that the Cornell lake source cooling system has not yet had, and will not likely have, any measurably significant environmental impact.[6] Furthermore, Cornell's system pumps significantly less warm water back into the lake than others further north, which have been operating for decades, including the coal-fired power plant on the eastern shore.[citation needed]
The AES Coal Power plant was shut down in August 2019, and there are plans to convert it into a data center in the near future. The plant used to use Cayuga Lake as a cooling source. In the late 1960s, citizens successfully opposed the construction of an 830-MW nuclear power plant on the shore of Cayuga Lake.[7][8][9][10]
Rod Serling named his production company Cayuga Productions, during the years of his TV series,The Twilight Zone. Serling and his family had a summer home at Cayuga Lake.[11]
The fish population is managed, and substantial sport fishing is practiced, with anglers targetingsmelt,lake trout andsmallmouth bass. Fish species present in the lake includelake trout,landlocked salmon,brown trout,rainbow trout,smallmouth bass,smelt,alewife,atlantic salmon,black crappie,bluegill,pickerel,largemouth bass,northern pike,pumpkinseed sunfish,rock bass, andyellow perch. Theround goby has been an invasive species in the lake since the 1990s.[12] There are state-owned hard surface ramps inCayuga–Seneca Canal, Lock #1 (Mud Lock),Long Point State Park,Cayuga Lake State Park,Deans Cove Boat Launch,Taughannock Falls State Park, andAllan H. Treman State Marine Park.[13]
The major inflows to the lake are:Fall Creek,Cayuga Inlet,Salmon Creek,Taughannock Creek, andSix Mile Creek;[1] while the lake outflows into theSeneca River and other tributaries. Ungaged tributaries that flow to the lake include:
The lake is the subject of local folklore.
AnIthaca Journal article of 5 January 1897, reported that a sea serpent, nicknamed "Old Greeny," had been sighted in Cayuga Lake annually for 69 years.[14][15][16] A sighting in that month described the animal, 200 feet (61 m) from shore, as "large and its body long", although a "tramp" suggested it was amuskrat.[16] In 1929, two creatures, about12 to 15 feet (3.7 to 4.6 m) in length, were reportedly spotted along the eastern shore of the lake.[14] Further sightings were reported in 1974 and 1979.[15]
Cornell'salma mater makes reference to its position"Far Above Cayuga's Waters", while that of Ithaca College references"Cayuga's shore".
A tradition atWells College inAurora, New York, held that if the lake completely freezes over, classes are canceled, though for only one day.[17] According to Wells College records, this happened eight times, in "1875, 1912, 1918, 1934, 1948, 1962, 1979 and 2015."[18]
Cayuga Lake, like nearbySeneca Lake, is also the site of a phenomenon known as theGuns of the Seneca, mysterious cannon-like booms heard in the surrounding area. Many of these booms may be attributable tobird-scarers, automated cannon-like devices used by farmers to scare birds away from the many vineyards, orchards and crops. There is, however, no proof of this.[19][20]
Cayuga Lake is included in theAmerican Viticultural Area. Established in 1988,[21] the AVA now boasts over a dozenwineries, fourdistilleries, acidery, and ameadery.[22]
Includes lakes & streams for the following counties: Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Cortland, Erie, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Niagara, Onondaga, Ontario, Orleans, Oswego, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates.
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