page_title: Etang Saumâtre
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Etang Saumâtre / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: Etang Saumâtre, also known as Lake Azuei, is the largest lake in Haiti. Its waters are mostly brackish, and differently from its twin Lake Enriquillo, the lake is expanding.
context_page_description: Étang Saumâtre is the largest lake in Haiti and the second largest lake in Hispaniola, after Lake Enriquillo. It is also known as Lake Azuéi; its Taíno name was Yainagua.
  The Étang Saumâtre, the brackish water lake is a twin of Lake Enriquillo, is 22 kilometres east of Port-au-Prince on the fertile Plaine du Cul-de-Sac. The lake supports over 100 species of waterfowl, flamingos and American crocodiles, one of the few lakes of its type in the world to harbour such fauna. The colour of the lake is an intense shade of blue and this picturesque lake is skirted by brush and cacti.
context_section_description: Étang Saumâtre is located on the arid part of the valley Cul-de-Sac, 29 kilometres (18 mi) east of Port-au-Prince in the Ouest department. Its eastern side is part of the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic; the Dominican city of Jimaní is at less than 1 km from the southeast end of the lake.
  The lake itself is part of a chain of nearby saline lakes that lie within the valley known as the Cul-de-Sac Depression in Haiti and the Hoya de Enriquillo in the Dominican Republic. Because the region was a former marine strait, several areas of the valley are below sea level. While the lake created in a depression is 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) long and 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) wide, however, during heavy rainfall years it merges with another lake to its east known as the Enriquillo or Xaragua in the Dominican Republic, which is 27 kilometres (17 mi) long, 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) wide and fairly deep; the two together would have a water spread stretching to 60 kilometres (37 mi) length, at an elevation of 300 metres (980 ft), larger than the Lake Geneva. It is 25 kilometres (16 mi) away from the sea and Haitians call it the 'Etang Sale'.
  Étang Saumâtre is landlocked as it has no surface outlet. It is fed by springs emanating from calcareous rocks. The western part of the lake has slightly saline water while the eastern part has fresh water.
  The lake has a length, from northwest to southeast, of 22 kilometres (14 mi); its maximum width is 12 kilometres (7.5 mi). The total area is 170 km² (66 sq mi). The lake water has an elevation of 15 metres (49 ft) with maximum water depth being 30 metres (98 ft). A sandy shore, shallow lagoons and mudflats form the eastern shore line, while the western shores have small fresh water springs and marshes. The eastern shore is state-owned, but parts of the western side of the lake are privately owned. Salinity of the lake water is now reported as 15‰ (parts per thousand). Lake water fluctuations are minimal, at about 50 centimetres (20 in), except during the drought period, when the water level could go down by 2 metres (6.6 ft). Conversely, the water level rises about 2 metres (6.6 ft) above the average during heavy rainfall years. However, it was once inferred  that Azuéi’s level in Haiti and the Enriquillo lake level in the adjoining Dominican Republic had registered a drop, since Columbus had visited the area more than 500 years ago. The present assessment is that the level of the lake has been rising in recent years, forcing Haitians who live in plantation residential areas ("bateyes") around the edge of the lake to seek higher ground.
  Another inference drawn by a comparison between the two lakes – Azuéi and Enriquillo – which are in the same area and have the same origin (and which also become one water body during years of high rainfall) is that though they are considered "twins," they are two dissimilar bodies of water. Azuéi has a stable shore line, its waters are azure blue in colour, salinity level is low (11‰) and its surface area is relatively stable. However, Enriquillo’s water looks white-greyish in colour, its salinity levels are very high (they have risen from 36‰ to 110‰) and current water surface area (160 km² (62 sq mi) compares to 280 km² (110 sq mi) in 1968. The climatic conditions for both lakes are similar (low rainfall in the range of 500–1,000 millimetres (20–39 in)), within similar geological setting.
  Azuéi's salinity is about one fifth (1/5) the salinity of sea water. A few small rivers flow into the lake.
caption: Etang Saumâtre, also known as Lake Azuei, is the largest lake in Haiti. Its waters are mostly brackish, and in contrast to its twin Lake Enriquillo, the lake is expanding.
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