Gibson Lake is the cooling pond

Cooling pond

A cooling pond is a man-made body of water primarily formed for the purpose of supplying cooling water to a nearby power plant or industrial facility such as a petroleum refinery, pulp and paper mill, chemical plant, steel mill or smelter...

 for Duke Energy

Duke Energy

Duke Energy , headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is an energy company with assets in the United States, Canada and Latin America.-Overview:...

 Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

's Gibson Generating Station

Gibson Generating Station

The Gibson Generating Station is a coal-burning power plant located at the northern end of northern Montgomery Township, Gibson County, Indiana, United States. It is close to the Wabash River, just opposite Mount Carmel, Illinois...

. Measuring at around 3500 acres (14.2 km²), it is the largest lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in Indiana built completely above ground, its shores consisting of rock levees on all but two of the lake's six sides both of which were also built up to build the power plant. Opened to fishing in 1978, Gibson Lake had been a prime source of bass and several types of catfish, bluegill, and carp. The lake was closed to fishing in 2007, due to elevated levels of selenium

Selenium

Selenium is a chemical element with atomic number 34, chemical symbol Se, and an atomic mass of 78.96. It is a nonmetal, whose properties are intermediate between those of adjacent chalcogen elements sulfur and tellurium...

 found in the water of the lake. The only entrance to Gibson Lake is the lake's boat ramp, located due southeast of the plant on Gibson County Road 975 South.

Gibson Lake, due to it never getting colder than 40 °F (4.4 °C), caused by the hot outflows from the plant's condensers, is known to produce a little dusting of snow every now and then.

Wildlife

The Gibson Lake and the rest of the Gibson Generating Station complex is home to several species of birds.

They Include:

• Red-throated Loon
• Pacific Loon
• Eared Grebe
• Red-necked Grebe
  Red-necked Grebe
  The Red-necked Grebe is a migratory aquatic bird found in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Its wintering habitat is largely restricted to calm waters just beyond the waves around ocean coasts, although some birds may winter on large lakes...
  
  
• Western Grebe
  Western Grebe
  The Western Grebe, , is a species in the grebe family of water birds. Folk names include "dabchick", "swan grebe" and "swan-necked grebe"....
  
  
• American White Pelican
  American White Pelican
  The American White Pelican is a large aquatic bird from the order Pelecaniformes. It breeds in interior North America, moving south and to the coasts, as far as Central America, in winter....
  
  
• Brown Pelican
  Brown Pelican
  The Brown Pelican is the smallest of the eight species of pelican, although it is a large bird in nearly every other regard. It is in length, weighs from and has a wingspan from .-Range and habits:...
  
  
• Plegadis ibis
• Snowy Egret
  Snowy Egret
  The Snowy Egret is a small white heron. It is the American counterpart to the very similar Old World Little Egret, which has established a foothold in the Bahamas....
  
  
• Ross's Goose
  Ross's Goose
  The Ross's Goose is a North American species of goose.The American Ornithologists' Union places this species and the other two "white" geese in the genus Chen rather than the more traditional "grey" goose genus Anser.This goose breeds in northern Canada, mainly in the Queen Maud Gulf Migratory...
  
  
• Wood Stork
  Wood Stork
  The Wood Stork is a large American wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was formerly called the "Wood Ibis", though it is not really an ibis.-Appearance:...
  
  
• White-faced Ibis
  White-faced Ibis
  The White-faced Ibis is a wading bird in the ibis family Threskiornithidae.This species breeds colonially in marshes, usually nesting in bushes or low trees. Its breeding range extends from the western USA south through Mexico, as well as from southeastern Brazil and southeastern Bolivia south to...
  
  
• Glossy Ibis
  Glossy Ibis
  The Glossy Ibis is a wading bird in the ibis family Threskiornithidae.This is the most widespread ibis species, breeding in scattered sites in warm regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Atlantic and Caribbean region of the Americas...
  
  
• Black-Bellied Whistling-duck
• White-winged Scoter
  White-winged Scoter
  The White-winged Scoter is a large sea duck.-Description:It is characterised by its bulky shape and large bill. This is the largest species of scoter. Females range from 950-1950 grams and 48–56 cm , averaging 1180 grams and 52.3 cm . She is brown with pale head patches...
  
  
• Surf Scoter
  Surf Scoter
  The Surf Scoter is a large sea duck, which breeds in Canada and Alaska. It is placed in the subgenus Melanitta, along with the Velvet and White-winged Scoters, distinct from the subgenus Oidemia, Black and Common Scoters.It winters further south in temperate zones, on the coasts of the northern USA...
  
  
• Oldsquaw
• Golden Eagle
  Golden Eagle
  The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...
  
  
• Peregrine Falcon
  Peregrine Falcon
  The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...
  
  
• Wild Turkey
  Wild Turkey
  The Wild Turkey is native to North America and is the heaviest member of the Galliformes. It is the same species as the domestic turkey, which derives from the South Mexican subspecies of wild turkey .Adult wild turkeys have long reddish-yellow to grayish-green...
  
  
• King Rail
  King Rail
  The King Rail, Rallus elegans, is a waterbird, the largest North American rail.Distinct features are a long bill with a slight downward curve, with adults being brown on the back and rusty-brown on the face and breast with a dark brown cap. They also have a white throat and a light belly with...
  
  
• Piping Plover
  Piping Plover
  The Piping Plover is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange legs, a black band across the forehead from eye to eye, and a black ring around the neck...
  
  
• Least Tern
• Green Heron
  Green Heron
  The Green Heron is a small heron of North and Central America. It was long considered conspecific with its sister species the Striated Heron , and together they were called "Green-backed Heron"...
  
  
• Canada Goose
  Canada Goose
  The Canada Goose is a wild goose belonging to the genus Branta, which is native to arctic and temperate regions of North America, having a black head and neck, white patches on the face, and a brownish-gray body....
  
  
• Cackling Goose
  Cackling Goose
  The Cackling Goose is a North American bird of the genus Branta of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey Anser species....
  
  

• American Avocet
  American Avocet
  The American Avocet is a large wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae.This avocet has long, thin, gray legs, giving it its colloquial name, "blue shanks". The plumage is black and white on the back with white on the underbelly. The neck and head are cinnamon colored in the summer...
  
  
• Black-necked Stilt
  Black-necked Stilt
  The Black-necked Stilt is a locally abundant shorebird of American wetlands and coastlines. It is found from the coastal areas of California through much of the interior western United States and along the Gulf of Mexico as far east as Florida, then south through Central America and the Caribbean...
  
  
• Whimbrel
  Whimbrel
  The Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus, is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. It is one of the mostwidespread of the curlews, breeding across much of subarctic North America, Europe and Asia as far south as Scotland....
  
  
• Marbled Godwit
  Marbled Godwit
  The Marbled Godwit, Limosa fedoa, is a large shorebird. On average, it is the largest of the 4 species of godwit. The total length is , including a large bill of , and wingspan is . Body mass can vary from ....
  
  
• Hudsonian Godwit
  Hudsonian Godwit
  The Hudsonian Godwit, Limosa haemastica, is a large shorebird.-Identification:Adults have long dark legs and a long pink bill with a slight upward curve and dark at the tip. The upper parts are mottled brown and the underparts are chestnut. The tail is black and the rump is white...
  
  
• Purple Sandpiper
  Purple Sandpiper
  The Purple Sandpiper, Calidris, Arquatella or Erolia maritima is a small shorebird.Adults have short yellow legs and a medium thin dark bill with a yellow base. The body is dark on top with a slight purplish gloss and mainly white underneath. The breast is smeared with grey and the rump is black...
  
  
• Red Knot
  Red Knot
  The Red Knot, Calidris canutus , is a medium sized shorebird which breeds in tundra and the Arctic Cordillera in the far north of Canada, Europe, and Russia. It is a large member of the Calidris sandpipers, second only to the Great Knot...
  
  
• Red Phalarope
  Red Phalarope
  The Red Phalarope , Phalaropus fulicarius, is a small wader. This phalarope breeds in the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia...
  
  
• Laughing Gull
  Laughing Gull
  The Laughing Gull, Leucophaeus atricilla, is a medium-sized gull of North and South America. It breeds on the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. Northernmost populations migrate further south in winter, and this species occurs as a rare vagrant to western...
  
  
• Little Gull
  Little Gull
  The Little Gull, Hydrocoloeus minutus or Larus minutus, is a small gull which breeds in northern Europe and Asia. It also has small colonies in parts of southern Canada. It is migratory, wintering on coasts in western Europe, the Mediterranean and the northeast USA. As is the case with many gulls,...
  
  
• Sabine's Gull
  Sabine's Gull
  The Sabine's Gull is a small gull. Its generic placement is disputed; some authors treat it as the sole species in the genus Xema as Xema sabini, while others retain it in the genus Larus as Larus sabini. It breeds in the arctic and has a circumpolar distribution through northernmost North America...
  
  
• Glaucous Gull
  Glaucous Gull
  The Glaucous Gull is a large gull which breeds in the Arctic regions of the northern hemisphere and the Atlantic coasts of Europe. It is migratory, wintering from in the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans as far south as the British Isles and northernmost states of the USA, also on the Great...
  
  
• Iceland Gull
  Iceland Gull
  The Iceland Gull, Larus glaucoides, is a large gull which breeds in the Arctic regions of Canada and Greenland, but not Iceland, where it is only seen in the winter. It is migratory, wintering from in the North Atlantic as far south as the British Isles and northernmost states of the eastern USA,...
  
  
• Thayer's Gull
  Thayer's Gull
  The Thayer's Gull is a large gull native to North America that breeds in the Arctic islands of Canada and primarily winters on the Pacific coast, from southern Alaska to the Gulf of California, though there are also wintering populations on the Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi River...
  
  
• Lesser Black-backed Gull
  Lesser Black-backed Gull
  The Lesser Black-backed Gull is a large gull that breeds on the Atlantic coasts of Europe. It is migratory, wintering from the British Isles south to West Africa...
  
  
• Pomarine Jaeger
• Parasitic Jaeger
• Swainson's Hawk
  Swainson's Hawk
  The Swainson's Hawk , is a large buteo hawk of the Falconiformes, sometimes separated in the Accipitriformes like its relatives. This species was named after William Swainson, a British naturalist...
  
  
• Gyrfalcon
  Gyrfalcon
  The Gyrfalcon — Falco rusticolus — is the largest of the falcon species. The Gyrfalcon breeds on Arctic coasts and the islands of North America, Europe, and Asia. It is mainly resident there also, but some Gyrfalcons disperse more widely after the breeding season, or in winter.Individual vagrancy...
  
  
• Snowy Owl
  Snowy Owl
  The Snowy Owl is a large owl of the typical owl family Strigidae. The Snowy Owl was first classified in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish naturalist who developed binomial nomenclature to classify and organize plants and animals. The bird is also known in North America as the Arctic Owl, Great...
  
  
• Le Conte's Sparrow
  Le Conte's Sparrow
  The Le Conte’s Sparrow, Ammodramus leconteii, is one of the smallest sparrow species in North America.It is a very secretive bird that prefers to spend most of its time on the ground under the cover of tall grasses. They are typically very difficult to flush, often only flushing at a distance of...
  
  
• Henslow's Sparrow
  Henslow's Sparrow
  Henslow's Sparrow, Ammodramus henslowii, is a small American sparrow.Adults have streaked brown upperparts with a light brown breast with streaks, a white belly and a white throat...
  
  
• Great Blue Heron
  Great Blue Heron
  The Great Blue Heron is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to Europe, with records from Spain, the Azores and England...
  
  
• Whooping Crane
  Whooping Crane
  The whooping crane , the tallest North American bird, is an endangered crane species named for its whooping sound. Along with the Sandhill Crane, it is one of only two crane species found in North America. The whooping crane's lifespan is estimated to be 22 to 24 years in the wild...
  
  
• White-Fronted Goose
  White-fronted Goose
  The Greater White-fronted Goose is a species of goose. The Greater White-fronted Goose is more closely related to the smaller Lesser White-fronted Goose...
  
  
• Mallard duck

• Many of these birds use the area as a stop-over on their respective destinations. Wildlife and bird watchers will notice that Google Earth and Garmin GPS maps refer to the lake's location as Broad Pond. The ancient Broad Pond-Cane Ridge-Wabash River oxbow was once considered for a National Wildlife Refuge.

Specialty Species

• Least Terns - breed at Gibson Lake and Cane Ridge least tern habitat and may be seen anytime between mid-May and late August or early September.

• Bald Eagle
  Bald Eagle
  The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
  
  s - are common during the winter and are usually encountered on a drive around the levee. They nest in the area next to the Wabash River.

Temperature

The lake temperature very rarely falls below 40 °F (4.4 °C) at its coldest point, due mainly to the plant's condenser discharges.

Outflow (West) Side

Annual Temperature Range

Season	Min	Max
Winter	50 °F (10 °C)	65 °F (18.3 °C)
Summer	95 °F (35 °C)	110 °F (43.3 °C)

Inflow (East) Side

Annual Temperature Range

Season	Min	Max
Winter	40 °F (4.4 °C)	55 °F (12.8 °C)
Summer	88 °F (31.1 °C)	95 °F (35 °C)

The two sides are separated by a splitter dike that juts approximately 500 yards into the lake from the main plant that forces the water to remain in the lake for around 1-2 weeks.