Lake Springfield is a 4,260 acre (17.2 km²) reservoir

Reservoir

A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...

 located in the city of Springfield, Illinois

Springfield, Illinois

Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...

, southeast of downtown. It is 560 feet (171 m) above sea level. It was formed in 1931-1935 by building Spaulding Dam across Sugar Creek

Sugar Creek (Sangamon River tributary)

Sugar Creek, a tributary of the Sangamon River, is a large creek in central Illinois. It rises in Talkington Township in southwestern Sangamon County, flows briefly through northeastern Macoupin County, and then runs northeastward through south-central Sangamon County before discharging into Lake...

, a tributary of the Sangamon River

Sangamon River

The Sangamon River is a principal tributary of the Illinois River, approximately long, in central Illinois in the United States. It drains a mostly rural agricultural area between Peoria and Springfield...

.

The lake was created, at a cost of $2.5 million in 1930s $USD, as a source of water for Springfield and to provide coolant for the City Water, Light & Power

City Water, Light & Power

City Water, Light & Power is the largest municipally owned utility in the U.S. state of Illinois.The utility provides the city of Springfield, Illinois with electric power from four coal-fired boilers...

 coal-fired electrical generating plant. It has also served as a focus of local recreation. Owners of high-powered motor boats enjoy the lack of a power limit on much of the lake, and the lake is known for warm-water fish such as largemouth bass

Largemouth bass

The largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...

, bluegill

Bluegill

The Bluegill is a species of freshwater fish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family Centrarchidae of the order Perciformes.-Range and distribution:...

, blue catfish

Blue catfish

The blue catfish, Ictalurus furcatus, is one of the largest species of North American catfish. Blue catfish are distributed primarily in the Mississippi River drainage including the Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Arkansas rivers...

, flathead catfish

Flathead catfish

The flathead catfish , also called the yellow cat, opelousas, and shovelhead cat, are large North American freshwater catfish. This is the only species of the genus Pylodictis...

, and crappie

Crappie

Crappie is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is P. annularis, the white crappie...

.

Lake Springfield can be seen from Interstate 55

Interstate 55

Interstate 55 is an Interstate Highway in the central United States. Its odd number indicates that it is a north–south Interstate Highway. I-55 goes from LaPlace, Louisiana at Interstate 10 to Chicago at U.S. Route 41 , at McCormick Place. A common nickname for the highway is "double...

. The limited-access highway crosses the lake on two bridges between mileposts 88 and 89. The lake is accessible from exit 88 (East Lake Shore Drive), exit 90 (Toronto Road), and exit 94 (Stevenson Drive).

Lake Springfield is close to the campus of the University of Illinois at Springfield

University of Illinois at Springfield

The University of Illinois at Springfield is a public university in Springfield, Illinois. The University was established in 1969 as Sangamon State University by the Illinois General Assembly and became a part of the University of Illinois system on July 1, 1995.The University of Illinois at...

. It also borders Abraham Lincoln Memorial Garden

Abraham Lincoln Memorial Garden

The Abraham Lincoln Memorial Garden is a self-governing 100-acre woodland and prairie garden owned by the city of Springfield, Illinois and managed by the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Garden Foundation. The gardens are made up of two major units, the Jensen section bordering Lake Springfield, and...

, a local arboretum, and the Henson Robinson Zoo

Henson Robinson Zoo

The Henson Robinson Zoo is a private nonprofit zoo serving the population of the greater Springfield, Illinois, United States, metropolitan area. The zoo was built in 1968-1970 on the eastern shore of Lake Springfield, and opened in 1970....

.

Lake Springfield tributaries include Lick Creek

Lick Creek (Sangamon River tributary)

Lick Creek is a tributary of Lake Springfield and, thus, a tributary of the Sangamon River in central Illinois. It drains a large portion of southwestern Sangamon County and a marginal adjacent fragment of southeastern Morgan County. The drainage of Lick Creek includes all of Loami, Illinois and...

 and Sugar Creek

Sugar Creek (Sangamon River tributary)

Sugar Creek, a tributary of the Sangamon River, is a large creek in central Illinois. It rises in Talkington Township in southwestern Sangamon County, flows briefly through northeastern Macoupin County, and then runs northeastward through south-central Sangamon County before discharging into Lake...

. Water discharged from these watercourses into Lake Springfield fluctuates with the seasons and with changes in local precipitation, and City Water, Light & Power has asked for permission to build a buffer lake, Hunter Lake

Hunter Lake

Hunter Lake is a proposed reservoir to be created by damming Horse Creek, a tributary of the Sangamon River. If the lake is built, its construction would flood a section of bottomland in southeastern Sangamon County, Illinois near the city of Springfield...

, nearby.

Fishing

Lake Springfield is a highly ranked fishing lake and contains the following species:

Species Name	Size	Largest (inches)
Black Crappie	Poor	14.5
Bluegill Bluegill The Bluegill is a species of freshwater fish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family Centrarchidae of the order Perciformes.-Range and distribution:...	Poor	7.5
Bullhead Bullhead -Fishes:* Certain sculpins, including:** European bullhead, Cottus gobio** Siberian bullhead, Cottus poecilopus** Norway bullhead, Taurulus Liljeborgi* Catfish of the genus Ameiurus, including:** Black bullhead, Ameiurus melas...	Fair	16.6
Channel Catfish Channel catfish Channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States they are the most fished catfish species with approximately 8...	Fair	26.3
Carp Carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...	Good	30.4
Flathead Catfish Flathead catfish The flathead catfish , also called the yellow cat, opelousas, and shovelhead cat, are large North American freshwater catfish. This is the only species of the genus Pylodictis...	Good	42.12
Green Sunfish Green sunfish The green sunfish is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. A panfish popular with anglers, the green sunfish is also kept as an aquarium fish by hobbyists. They are usually caught by accident, while fishing for other game fish...	Poor	7.3
Hybrid Striped Bass Striped bass The striped bass is the state fish of Maryland, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and the state saltwater fish of New York, Virginia, and New Hampshire...	Fair	unknown
Largemouth Bass Largemouth bass The largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...	Good	22.1
Longear sunfish Longear sunfish The longear sunfish is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. It is native to the an area of eastern North America stretching from the Great Lakes down to northeastern Mexico....	Poor	6.9
Muskellunge Muskellunge A muskellunge , also known as a muskelunge, muscallonge, milliganong, or maskinonge , is a large, relatively uncommon freshwater fish of North America. Muskellunge are the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae...	Good	53.2
Northern Pike Northern Pike The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...	Good	47.8
Rainbow Trout Rainbow trout The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....	Fair	26.5
Redear Sunfish Redear sunfish The redear sunfish , also known as the shellcracker, Georgia bream, cherry gill, chinquapin, improved bream, rouge ear sunfish and sun perch, is native to the southeastern United States, but since it is a popular sport fish it has been introduced to bodies of water all over North America...	Poor	7.1
Saugeye	Fair	24.1
Smallmouth bass Smallmouth bass The smallmouth bass is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of the order Perciformes. It is the type species of its genus...	Good	15.6
Walleye Walleye Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...	Good	27.0
White Bass White bass The white bass or sand bass The white bass or sand bass The white bass or sand bass (MoroneIt is the state fish of Oklahoma.- Range :White bass are distributed widely across the United States, particularly in the midwest. They are very abundant in Pennsylvania and the area around Lake Erie...	Fair	22.4
White Crappie	Poor	14.5
Yellow Perch Yellow perch The yellow perch is a species of perch found in the United States and Canada, where it is often referred to by the shortform perch. Yellow perch look similar to the European perch, but are paler and more yellowish, with less red in the fins. They have six to eight dark, vertical bars on their sides...	Poor	7.2

External links

• Official web site
• History of lake