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 Alkali Lake
is located in Lake County, Oregon, 345 km southeast of
Portland, Oregon, just west of US Hwy 395, and about 100
miles from California boarder. Most of it is dry,
which this stretch of US 395 crosses in almost a
causeway-like fashion. There is some small quantity of
water remaining on the southwest side, subject to
rainfall, as there appears to be no feeder source for
the lake otherwise. This area includes: Alkali Lake
Dunes, Horror Spring & Hutton Spring.
Alkali Dunes are along Alkali Lake and
Hutton Spring, on the northwest margin of Alkali Lake,
is the sole habitat of the Hutton tui chub, classified
as a threatened subspecies by the U. S. Fish and
Wildlife Service.
On the southwestern margin of Alkali Lake is a pretty
messy chemical waste disposal site. About 25,000 drums
of pesticide manufacturing waste were disposed of here
in the late 1960s and 1970s. In 1976, the drums were
crushed and buried in place in shallow trenches and
fenced. Current analysis concludes that the site does
not present a significant risk to the public or the
environment.
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