Lake Arenal is a lake in the northern highlands of Costa Rica. It is the largest lake in Costa Rica at 85-square-kilometre. Its depth varies between 30 and 60 meters seasonally. Originally a natural lake, Lake Arenal was tripled in size with the 1979 construction of the Presa Sangregado Dam at the southeastern end. All land below the 550-meter level was expropr…Lake Arenal is a lake in the northern highlands of Costa Rica. It is the largest lake in Costa Rica at 85-square-kilometre. Its depth varies between 30 and 60 meters seasonally. Originally a natural lake, Lake Arenal was tripled in size with the 1979 construction of the Presa Sangregado Dam at the southeastern end. All land below the 550-meter level was expropriated by the Costa Rican government. The old towns of Arenal and Tronadora now lie at the bottom of the lake; their residents were resettled in the new town of Arenal to the northeast. The dam also displaced a large cattle operation, Hacienda La Rosita, which was owned and operated by P. Eckrich & Sons, a subsidiary of the U.S. corporation Beatrice Foods. Hacienda La Rosita occupied most of the land that is now Lake Arenal as well as additional land surrounding the lake.
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