Living on Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is as long as the English Channel is wide. The width of Lake Tahoe is half again as wide as San Francisco Bay.  With a surface area of only 193 square miles (70 of which are in Nevada).

Lake Tahoe contains 122,160,280 acre feet of water, or over 30,000,000 more feet than the connected capacities of 10 of the largest manmade reservoirs in the United States. The State of California would be completely covered to a depth of 12-1/2 inches, with one dispersion of Lake Tahoe's water, and Texans can pride themselves on the fact that their extensive Lone Star State could only be covered to a depth of 8-1/2 inches.

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On average, 1,400,000 tons of water evaporate from the surface of Lake Tahoe every 24 hours. If the water that evaporates from the Lake every 24 hours could be recovered, it would supply the daily requirements of 3,500,000 people. 

 Lake Mead is backed up 227 miles by Hoover Dam into the Grand Canyon of Colorado and is considered one of the largest manmade lakes in the world. Lake Tahoe contains nearly four times the maximum capacity of Lake Mead.

 Lake Tahoe never freezes over due to the constant movement of the water from the bottom to the surface. This "turnover" allows an enormous mass movement of water, and keeps the Lake ice-free. However, ice may form at times along the shoreline in small, protected inlets, and on rare occasions, Emerald Bay has sported a coating of ice for short periods.