I live in a subdivision that has an 8 acre body of water in the middle surrounded by houses. It has tons of bass in it and many other fish. It is managed by our homeowners association. Water pours into our pond/lake via a weir from the next body of water upstream if you will. On the other end of our pond/lake we have a dam and another weir allowing water to flow out and into the next body of water downstream.

Our pond/lake has been around for about 80 years and was man made. Our body of water also has a few springs that also help it stay full but the water mostly comes from the pond/lake upstream and of course from rain.

People use it for Jon boat fishing, kayaking, canoeing and other recreational activities.

Is this a pond or a lake and why?

Thanks! I have lived here for a long time and people call it both and I'm still not sure what it is, lol!

http://des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/bb/documents/bb-49.pdf

The short answer is that a pond allows light to penetrate to the bottom,

a lake does not.