Lake Tapps

Lake Tapps is a reservoir in Pierce County, Washington. It was created in 1911 by Puget Sound Power & Light and operated for hydroelectric power until it ceased power production in 2004. The reservoir was sold to the Cascade Water Alliance, a collective of municipalities in King County, to provide drinking water to 350,000 residents and 20,000 businesses. The lake is open to recreational use through an agreement between Cascade and homeowners on Lake Tapps to maintain certain reservoir levels during the summer. Cascade also has agreements with the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and the Puyallup Tribe of Indians to ensure instream flows for fish. The level of the reservoir is lowered from about October to April to allow important upkeep and maintenance to be done, as well as an occasional major capital project. The winter lowering of the reservoir levels also ensures the safety of dikes from wind, waves and storms. Lake Tapps is about 4.5 square miles (12 km2) in surface area and has about 45 miles (72 km) of shoreline. The local terrain is such that the shape of the shoreline is very complex, with many inlets, peninsulas, and islands. Before the reservoir was created there were several smaller lakes, including one called Lake Tapps. The reservoir is held in place by a series of dikes. The reservoir is also known to hold many fish including carp, smallmouth bass, perch, and tiger mus

Reservoir data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).