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Lake Pontchartrain

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Lake Pontchartrain was created at the end of the last Ice Age. This estuary is much more than just a magnificent natural resource. It has provided humans and other animals with sources of food as well as a means of communication, transportation and commerce.

Today, the 1632 km2 Lake Pontchartrain is the centerpiece of the 12,173 km2 Pontchartrain drainage basin or watershed. The Basin encompasses land in 16 Louisiana parishes and 4 Mississippi counties. The vast ecological system includes lakes, rivers, bayous, forest, swamps and marshes. It is habitat for countless species of fish, birds, mammals, reptiles and plants. It is also the most densely populated portion of Louisiana with almost 1.5 million people residing immediately around the lake.