The lake's primary purpose is to store water for pumping into two aqueducts.
Lake Havasu, is named for the Mohave word "Havasu", which means "blue water". Coincidentally, Hava and Su mean "air" and "water" in Turkish respectively. It is also pronounced the same way in Turkish. In older Turkish, Havasu does mean blue water. This is a reason why some believe that Native Americans come from the same ancestors as Turkish people.
Mark Wilmer Pumping Plant pumps water into the Central Arizona Project Aqueduct. Whitsett Pumping Plant is located on the lake and lifts the water 291 feet for the Colorado River Aqueduct. Gene Pumping Plant is just south of Parker Dam and gives the water an additional boost of 303 feet. The Colorado River Aqueduct has three more pumping plants, Iron Mountain, 144 feet, Eagle Mountain, 438 feet and Julian Hinds, 441 feet . The total lift is 1,617 feet.
© 2006 by "DiscoveringArizona Inc." · All Rights Reserved · E-Mail: jayq@discoveringarizona.com
Lake Havasu is a large reservoir behind Parker Dam on the Colorado River, on the border between California and Arizona. Lake Havasu City sits on the its eastern shore. The lake has a capacity of 648,000 acre feet. The concrete arch dam was built by the United States Bureau of Reclamation between 1934 and 1938.
Robert Paxton McCulloch (May 11, 1911 - February 25, 1977) was an American entrepreneur most notable for McCulloch Chainsaws and purchasing the old London Bridge and moving it to one of the cities he founded, Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Lake Havasu sparked the imagination of McCulloch, who purchased 3,500 acres of lakeside property along Pittsburgh Point, the peninsula that eventually would be transformed into "the island".
Can't Find What You're Looking For?
Try Google Search!