Wazee Lake
Artificial lake of Wisconsin, US
title: "Wazee Lake" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bodies-of-water-of-jackson-county,-wisconsin", "reservoirs-in-wisconsin", "underwater-diving-quarries", "protected-areas-of-jackson-county,-wisconsin", "parks-in-wisconsin"] description: "Artificial lake of Wisconsin, US" topic_path: "general/bodies-of-water-of-jackson-county-wisconsin" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wazee_Lake" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Artificial lake of Wisconsin, US ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox body of water"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Wazee Lake |
| image | Wazee 007.jpg |
| caption | A ramp leading down to one of the scuba diving accesses at Wazee Lake. |
| location | Brockway, Jackson County, east of Black River Falls, Wisconsin |
| coords | |
| type | Artificial |
| basin_countries | United States |
| length | 4000 ft |
| width | 1800 ft |
| area | 146 acre |
| max-depth | 355 ft |
| elevation | 900 ft |
| pushpin_map | Wisconsin#USA |
| pushpin_map_alt | Location of Wazee Lake in Wisconsin, USA. |
| :: |
| name = Wazee Lake | image = Wazee 007.jpg | caption = A ramp leading down to one of the scuba diving accesses at Wazee Lake. | image_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = | location = Brockway, Jackson County, east of Black River Falls, Wisconsin | coords = | type = Artificial | inflow = | outflow = | catchment = | basin_countries = United States | length = 4000 ft | width = 1800 ft | area = 146 acre | depth = | max-depth = 355 ft | volume = | residence_time = | shore = | elevation = 900 ft | islands = | cities = | pushpin_map = Wisconsin#USA | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = Location of Wazee Lake in Wisconsin, USA. | pushpin_map_caption = | website = | reference =
Wazee Lake is a lake east of Black River Falls, Wisconsin, in the town of Brockway, Jackson County, Wisconsin, United States. The name "Wazee" means "tall pine" in the Ho-Chunk language. The artificial lake is the deepest lake within the state of Wisconsin, with a maximum depth of approximately 355 ft. The man-made lake was formed after the site was used as a quarry for taconite mining between the mid-1960s through April 1983. The quarry produced about 850,000 tons of taconite pellets each year. The mine closed in 1983 as a result of a crash of the domestic steel markets in the United States. When the mine was in operation, pumps removed about 800 USgal of water per minute from the quarry. Once these pumps were shut down, the quarry began filling with water.
The lake is now part of a county park known as Wazee Lake Recreation Area. The lake is a prime scuba diving destination because of its deep, clear water. Visibility averages between 30 and during the summer months. There are also visible remains of mining operations underwater, such as roadways used for hauling equipment. Some features have been added to the lake, such as underwater platforms for training divers and fish cribs to improve habitat for the fish. Fish species within the lake include rainbow, brook, and brown trout, bluegills, suckers, catfish, walleye, warmouth, and smallmouth bass.
::data[format=table] | [[Image:Wazee Divers.jpg|thumb|Scuba divers approaching a platform about 20 ft below the surface of Wazee Lake.]] | [[Image:Wazee 005.jpg|thumb|A fish crib, which provides habitat for small fish.]] | |---|---| ::
References
- "The Diver's Guide to Lake Wazee", John Janzen, Inland Sea Corp., 2004.
References
- [http://www.blackriverfalls.com/recreation/lakewazee Lake Wazee]
- [http://www.co.jackson.wi.us/html/forestry/scuba.htm Jackson County Forestry]
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::