Lessons on the Lake: A Walk in the Woods

Facts about the Lake Pontchartrain Basin

Another name for the Lake Pontchartrain Basin is the Lake Pontchartrain Watershed. The Basin, or watershed, is home to 1.5 million people.

The watershed drains the land in 16 Louisiana parishes and 4 Mississippi counties.

The Louisiana parishes in the Lake Pontchartrain Watershed are: Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Jefferson, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Tangipahoa, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Helena, St. Tammany, and Washington.

Lake Pontchartrain, formed 5,000 years ago, is the largest feature of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin ---------------------->
Lake Pontchartrain is not a lake; it is an estuary, or an area in which fresh water from rain and rivers measurably dilutes the salt water from the Gulf of Mexico.
Lake Pontchartrain is an entire ecosystem with great biodiversity. An ecosystem is made up of all the living and non–living components of the environment.

	HOME \| SITE MAP \| ABOUT \| CHAPTER LIST \| FOR TEACHERS \| FOR STUDENTS \| FIELD TRIPS \| TURTLE COVE \| GLOSSARY \| SEARCH \| LINKS \| CONTACT This is a project of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Act in cooperation with The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with Southeastern Louisiana University