Lake Elkhorn

{{short description|Reservoir in Columbia, Maryland, USA}}

{{Infobox body of water

| name = Lake Elkhorn

| image = Lake_Elkhorn_Sunrise.jpg

| caption = View of Lake Elkhorn at Sunrise

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| location = Columbia, Maryland

| coords = {{coord|39.1836|-76.8409|format=dms|region:US-MD_type:waterbody_source:enwiki-googlemaplink|display=inline,title}}

| type = manmade

| inflow = Elkhorn Branch of the Little Patuxent River

| outflow = Little Patuxent River

| catchment =

| basin_countries = United States

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| area = {{convert|37|acre|abbr=on}}

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| elevation = {{Convert|295|ft|abbr=on}}{{GNIS|594435}}

| islands =

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| pushpin_map = Maryland#USA

| pushpin_label_position =

| pushpin_map_alt = Location of Lake Elkhorn in Maryland, USA.

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}}

File:Lake Elkhorn spillway 2016.jpg

File:Lake Elkhorn docks 2016.jpg

Lake Elkhorn is a {{convert|37|acre|m2|adj=on}}Gelbert, Doug.[https://books.google.com/books?id=WaGNVJhDSjMC&dq=%22Lake+Elkhorn%22columbia&pg=PA111 A Bark in the Park: The 50 Best Places to Hike with Your Dog], Cruden Bay Books, 2003, {{ISBN|0-9644427-7-9}}, p. 111 https://books.google.com reservoir located in the Owen Brown area of Columbia, Maryland. It is Columbia's third and largest lake.Kellner, Barbara.[https://books.google.com/books?id=1HThuXzQILMC&dq=%22Lake+Elkhorn%22columbia&pg=PA96 Columbia], Arcadia Publishing, 2005, {{ISBN|0-7385-1792-5}}, p.96 https://books.google.com{{cite book|title=New City Upon a Hill|author=Joseph Rocco, David L. Stebenne|page=114}} Its main features are a small dam and a park with a picnic pavilion and a two-mile (3 km) walking path around the lake. The path was built in 1982{{cite book|title=Suburban Alchemy: 1960s New Towns and the Transformation of the American Dream|author=Bloom, N.D.|date=2001|publisher=Ohio State University Press|isbn=9780814208748|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ey32fUCOMZkC|page=102|access-date=2015-03-23}} and is surrounded by a park and townhouses. The lake, which was built in 1974, is named for the Elkhorn branch of the Little Patuxent River. In 1969, Spiro Agnew proclaimed the arrival of the first Columbia based scientific firm, Hittman Associates that relocated for favorable lease rates from Howard Research and Development.{{cite news|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|title=Firms and profits flourished on Columbia's fertile ground|date=14 June 1992|author=Kevin Thomas}}{{cite book|title=Columbia|author=Barbara Kellner|page=95}} Hittman in turn was contracted by the EPA using Wilde Lake as an example to recommend reuse of storm water runoff from all of Columbia's reservoir systems for residential drinking water to save on development costs.{{cite book|title=The Beneficial use of Stormwater|date=January 1973|author=Office of research and Monitoring, Environmental Protection Agency}}[http://www.columbiamaryland.com/othernam.htm How Columbia, MD Streets Were Names] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601095233/http://columbiamaryland.com/othernam.htm |date=2008-06-01 }} columbiamaryland.com The lake is overseen by the Columbia Association.

The lake's location behind many townhouses, though considered an attractive feature to homeowners, has raised concern following the drowning of a small child on September 2, 2005. A drowning also occurred in 1980, and a maintenance worker drowned in March 1991.{{cite news|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|title=Columbia Assn. faces charges in employee drowning Working conditions said to seriously violate state code|author=Elizabeth Lean|date=12 June 1991}}{{cite news|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|title=Men from Pa., Arbutus drown in 2 Md. lakes|date=18 August 1980}} A movement was started soon after to erect a fence around playground next to the lake, but the community was split over this need, and a consultant concluded a fence was not necessary.Blakely, Andrei."Community split over need for playground barrier" explorehoward.com[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/30/AR2005113000916.html "Offices Proposed Next to Woodlawn"]Washington Post, December 1, 2005Partlow, Joshua.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090202246.html "Boy Wanders Away, Drowns in Howard Lake"]Washington Post, September 3, 2005 The lake remained free of fatal incidents until October 8, 2013, when a body of a 32-year-old was found dead in the lake.{{cite news|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|title=Police find body in Columbia's Lake Elkhorn|author=Luke Lavoie|date=10 October 2013}}