Introduction to Lakes and Reservoirs - Hydro-Environmental Analysis: Freshwater Environments - page 284

Moon lake

FIGURE 9.12 Aerial photograph of Moon Lake, Mississippi in Coahoma County, showing the oxbow lake,
the Mississippi River meanders, and old meander scars.

FIGURE 9.13 Hoover Dam. (Courtesy of USBR.)

larger for reservoirs than for natural lakes, usually resulting in a greater inluence of the character
of the impounded river basin. Some of the major differences between lakes and reservoirs are listed
in Figure 9.14 from Loucks and van Beek (2005).
Reservoirs are constructed for a variety of purposes. Of the dams included in the National Inventory of
Dams (NID) 2002-2004 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (authorized by the National Dam Safety
and Security Act of 2002), the majority were constructed for recreation (65%) and are privately owned
(Figure 9.15). The structure and function of reservoirs will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 10.