> The present lake is only a shadow of it's former self, but it abounds
>with life at present. Which brings me to this question. Can anyone tell me
>why the volume of this body of water fluctuates so much recently? No map
>I've seen has suggested that Kahlotus Lake was an intermittent body of
>water, like Atkins Lake in Douglas County for example. Yet, today the
>surface area probably isn't 40 acres, 4 years ago it was dry and 14 years
>ago it was in excess of 100 acres. What's the deal?
>

I can't speak specifically on Kahlotus Lake, but many of the lakes in
the wheatlands of eastern Washington where summer fallow is practiced
fluctuate. This occurs because the farmers plant fields with
wheat ever other year allowing water to build up in the soil in the off year.
In other words they raise a crop of wheat on two year's worth of
precipitation. In the summer fallow year, the field is kept weeded to
keep the weeds from stealing the scarce water. This practice of course
leads to variation from year to year in the amount of runoff from the
fields and into the small lakes.

In the case of Kahlotus Lake, there has been some variation in farming
practice over the last ten years that has led to the change in runoff.

But I'm probably totally wrong.

--Jerry <tangren at crcwnet.com>