{{Short description|Lake in Peru}} {{Infobox body of water | name = Lake Conococha | image = Laguna Conococha.jpg | caption = Lake Conococha with Mount Caullaraju in the background. | image_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = | location = Ancash, Peru | coords = {{coord|10|07|40|S|77|17|02|W|region:PE_type:waterbody|display=inline,title}} | type = |pushpin_map=Peru | inflow = Small streams from Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra mountain ranges. | outflow = Santa River | catchment = | basin_countries = Peru | length = | width = | area = {{convert|1.976|km2|abbr=on}} | depth = | max-depth = | volume = | residence_time = | shore = | elevation = {{convert|4020|m|ft|0}} | islands = | cities = }} '''Lake Conococha'''<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Peru 1:100 000, Chiquián (21-i)|publisher=IGN (Instituto Geográfico Nacional - Perú)}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Alpenvereinskarte 0/3b. Cordillera Blanca Süd (Peru). 1:100 000|publisher=Oesterreichischer Alpenverein|year=2005|isbn=3-937530-05-3}}</ref><ref name="diaz" /> (possibly from Quechua ''quñuq'',<ref>Leonel Alexander Menacho López, Yachakuqkunapa Shimi Qullqa, Anqash Qhichwa Shimichaw (Ministerio de Educación), Wordbook Ancash Quechua-Spanish: '''Quñuq'''. - ''Caliente.''</ref> ''qunuq''<ref>Rodolfo Cerrón-Palomino, El Franciscano Ráez y la unificación del quechua, p. 226</ref> warm, lukewarm, ''qucha'' lake,<ref>Teofilo Laime Ajacopa, Diccionario Bilingüe Iskay simipi yuyayk'ancha, La Paz, 2007 (Quechua-Spanish dictionary)</ref> "warm lake") is a South American lake located in the Andes mountains of northwestern Peru. It is located in the region of Ancash near the junction of the roads going from Callejón de Huaylas to Chiquián.<ref name=":2" />
== Geography == {{climate chart | Conococha |0.2|11.1|81 |0.9|10.7|98 |0.8|11.0|138 |0.0|11.7|62 |-2.7|12.0|22 |-5.5|11.8|4 |-6.1|12.6|1 |-5.4|12.3|4 |-3.4|11.9|10 |-2.2|11.6|35 |-1.5|11.5|44 |-1.5|11.5|44 |float = left |clear = left |units = |source = [http://en.climate-data.org/location/482334/ Climate-Data.org] }} Lake Conococha has an elevation of {{convert|4020|m|ft|0}} above sea level<ref name=":0" /> and an extension of {{convert|1.976|km2|sqmi|3}}.<ref name="diaz">{{Cite book|title=Evaluación de la Eutrofización de la Laguna Conococha - Ancash (Thesis)|last=Diaz|first=Ana|last2=Sotomayor|first2=Lenin|publisher=Universidad Nacional Santiago Antunez de Mayolo|year=2013|language=es}}</ref> It is located at the headwaters of the Santa River which runs in a northwest direction from the lake.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" />
According to the Köppen climate classification, the area presents a tundra climate (ET); with a mean annual temperature of 4.7 °C and an average annual rainfall of 543 mm.<ref name ="data">{{Cite web|url=http://en.climate-data.org/location/482334/|title=Climate: Conococha - Climate graph, Temperature graph, Climate table - Climate-Data.org|website=en.climate-data.org|access-date=2016-07-16}}</ref>
The village of Conococha is located on the western shore of the lake, where the roads from Lima and Pativilca to Huaraz and Chiquián meet.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" />
== Ecology ==
=== Flora === Aquatic vegetation on the shores is represented by reeds of ''Scirpus'' spp. and aquatic herbs like watercress, ''Elodea potamogeton'' and ''Myriophyllum'' sp. While the surrounding meadows include plants of genera ''Carex'' and ''Calamagrostis''.<ref name="diaz" />
=== Fauna === The lake is home to a frog species (''Telmatobius mayoloi'') discovered in 1996 and endemic of the Santa River basin.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Salas|first=Antonio|last2=Sinsch|first2=Ulrich|date=1996|title=Two new Telmatobius species (Leptodactylidae, Telmatobiinae) of Ancash, Peru|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271830307_Two_new_Telmatobius_species_Leptodactylidae_Telmatobiinae_of_Ancash_Peru|journal=Alytes|volume=14|issue=1|pages=1–26}}</ref>
== Environmental issues == Lake Conococha is undergoing a process of eutrophication (overpopulation of plants and algae due to pollution), being the main reasons: livestock raising, blackwater from the surrounding villages, and disposal of solid waste on the lake shores.<ref name="diaz" />
== See also == * Caullaraju
== References == {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake Conococha}} Conococha Conococha