Lake Ponchartrain

The city of New Orleans is wedged between the two watery worlds of the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. The lake is actually an estuary, which is defined as a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers, streams, or bayous flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries are a dynamic ecosystem with saltwater entering according to the tides; freshwater flowing from rivers and bayous dilute the seawater, resulting in brackish conditions.

Lake Pontchartrain is the largest lake in Louisiana and the second largest saltwater lake in the United States, second only to Great Salt Lake in Utah. The lake is 40 miles long, 25 miles wide and the depth is 10 to 16 feet.