Mercer Lake

Mercer Lake
View east from the dam
Mercer Lake Location in New Jersey
Location	West Windsor, Mercer County, New Jersey
Coordinates	40°16′04.14″N 74°38′58.52″W / 40.2678167°N 74.6495889°W
Type	Reservoir
Primary inflows	Assunpink Creek
Primary outflows	Assunpink Creek
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	365 acres (1.48 km^2)
Surface elevation	62 feet (19 m)

Mercer Lake, also known as Lake Mercer,^[1] is a man-made lake within Mercer County Park in West Windsor, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States.^[2] The lake came into being with the 1975 construction of a dam to control flooding on the Assunpink Creek in nearby Trenton by the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service (now the Natural Resources Conservation Service). The basin now occupied by the lake was excavated by crews building nearby Interstate 295 at no additional cost to taxpayers.^[3] The lake is the home of one of the US Olympic Rowing Team's training centers. It has played host to the 1988, 1992, 2004 and 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Rowing, in addition to USRowing National Team selection events, international regattas, and both collegiate and junior national championship regattas. The infrastructure and topography of the racecourse meets FISA standards and PNRA has the equipment necessary to host the world's largest regattas.^[4]

Mercer Lake is also known for fishing. Mercer Lake is home to many fish including Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, Pumpkinseed Sunfish, Yellow Perch, catfish, Shady, Musky and Alabama Turkey fish. Although Mercer Lake is one of cleanest bodies of water in central New Jersey, it still faces problems with pollution from nearby golf courses and storm water runoff.

References

1. "Mercer County Park Map" (PDF). Retrieved June 6, 2013.
2. "Mercer Lake". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. July 1, 1981. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
3. "Mercer County Park Marina and Boat House". Retrieved June 4, 2013.
4. "Renewal of U.S. Olympic Training Site in New Jersey". Retrieved 2013-06-04.