Lake Scugog is an artificially flooded lake in Scugog, Regional Municipality of Durham and the unitary city of Kawartha Lakes in central Ontario, Canada. It lies between the communities of Port Perry and Lindsay. The lake has been raised and lowered several times over its history. Though not technically part of the Kawartha lakes due to its shallow depths, it is often geographically linked to them. Its sole outflow, the Scugog River, connects to Sturgeon Lake. Lake Scugog is in the Great Lakes Basin and forms part of the Trent–Severn Waterway. Etymology The name "Scugog" may be an Ojibwe word meaning "marshy waters". However, according to Place Names of Ontario by Alan Rayburn, Scugog is a Mississauga word meaning 'waves leap over a canoe' in reference, perhaps, to the flooding of the river valley, or, more likely, the quickness that waves can be whipped up in winds, owing to its shallowness. Geography With 68 km² with an average depth of 1.4 metres, Lake Scugog is amongst the largest five lakes of the Kawarthas by surface area. It is also the shallowest, alongside Mitchell Lake It is fed by the Blackstock and Cawkers Creeks and the Nonquon River, as well as by many small unnamed tributaries. The Scugog River is the only outflow from the lake, flowing into Sturgeon Lake which drains through the Trent watershed. Other communities surrounding the lake include Seagrave, Port Perry, View Lake and Caesarea. Scugog Island (whose island status is debatable due to the south-western edge being a seasonally flooded swamp) lay in the centre of the lake. A Mississaugian Indian Reserve of about 50 residents exists on Scugog Island, and includes the Great Blue Heron Casino, amongst the many seasonal cottagers on the island and around the lake. Hydrology It is a hard-water marl-producing lake, and the lake bottom consists of deep deposits of it. This gives the lake a murky appearance in warm weather, especially during the summer. The lake is reportedly filling in with this marl by about 1 millimetre per year. In dry summer weather, the Scugog River ceases to flow out of the lake, and its tributary streams of Mariposa Brook and East Cross Creek flow backward into the lake via the river to offset the high evaporative losses off the lake and marsh surfaces. History The lake has had a history of water level changes. Originally, it was essentially two