Cedar Creek Reservoir is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

located in

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * H ...

and

Kaufman Kaufman or Kauffman may refer to: People * Kaufmann (surname) ''Includes Kaufman, Kauffman, Kauffmann'' Places * Kaufman, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Madison Count * Kaufman, Texas, a city in Kaufman County * Kaufman County, Texa ...

Counties,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

(

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

), 50 miles (80.5 km) southeast of

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. It is built on Cedar Creek, which flows into the Trinity River. Floodwaters are discharged through a gated

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure th ...

into a discharge channel that connects to the Trinity River.

Description

The lake has a drainage area over 1,000 square miles (2,600 km²). The

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is a Texas state agency that oversees and protects wildlife and their habitats. In addition, the agency is responsible for managing the state's parks and historical areas. Its mission is to manage ...

maintains three islands, totalling 160 acres (65 ha), as a wildlife management area for aquatic birds. The lake is owned by the

Tarrant Regional Water District The Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) is a water district in Texas. It provides raw water for over 2.1 million people, implements vital flood control measures and creates recreational opportunities for the residents of 11 North Texas Counties. ...

, and supplies water to Fort Worth and other cities and water districts in Tarrant and

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

Counties.Tarrant Regional Water District

Cedar Creek Reservoir
. Retrieved 26 February 2007. Construction on the lake began in 1961, and was completed in 1965.

History

Cedar Creek Lake is a fourth water source for Tarrant Regional Water District's water supply. Its normal system capacity is 322.00 ft (98.15 m) above sea level. When the lake gets over that point, gates from the spillway are opened, releasing water; 2005 and 2006 were dry years, sending the lake to a record low on December 12, 2006. The lake fell to 8.04 ft (2.45 m) below normal, at 313.96 ft (95.7 m). This passed the old record of 6.22 ft (2 m) low set on May 8, 1981. That afternoon, the lake received over 4 in (102 mm) of rain, causing the lake to rise about 6 in (152 mm). This was the first significant rainfall since April 2006. It was the big turning point for the drought in North Texas, as more rain continued through the month. By January 1, the lake was only a little over 6 feet (2 m) low. Huge rainstorms throughout January brought the lake to only 2 feet (0.6 m) low. A bit of a break came in February, as mainly snow and ice added to the lake rising. By March 31, 2007, the lake was at 322.12 ft (98.18 m) and the flood gates were open for the first time since April 20, 2005. Lake Benbrook, Lake Worth, and Lake Arlington also filled up in these rains. Later on,

Richland-Chambers Reservoir Richland-Chambers Reservoir is the third largest inland reservoir by surface area and the 8th largest reservoir by water volume in Texas formed by the impoundment of Richland Creek and Chambers Creek east-southeast of the town of Corsicana and so ...

filled up all the way, then Eagle Mountain, and then on June 30, 2007, Lake Bridgeport was full for the first time since May 15, 2001, more than six years since the flood gates had been open. It was a milestone for Tarrant regional water district having all seven of their lakes full. On the night of July 5, more than 5 in (127 mm) of rain fell, sending Cedar Creek lake from a half foot (15 cm) over to 1.5 feet (45 cm) over, beating the old 1.47 ft (0 m) set in November 2001.

Settlements

Towns on or near the lake include Kemp, Mabank, Gun Barrel City, Payne Springs, Enchanted Oaks,

Eustace Eustace, also rendered Eustis, ( ) is the rendition in English of two phonetically similar Greek given names: *Εὔσταχυς (''Eústachys'') meaning "fruitful", "fecund"; literally "abundant in grain"; its Latin equivalents are ''Fæcundus/Fe ...

, Caney City,

Malakoff Malakoff () is a suburban commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department southwest of Paris, France. Located from the centre of the city, it had a population of 30,286 in 2016. The European Organisation for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE) is base ...

, Star Harbor,

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

, and Seven Points. Its proximity to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex makes it a popular weekend getaway.

Creeks and rivers

Cedar Creek Reservoir was built on Cedar Creek, a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

to the Trinity River. The dam is at the south end of the lake in the town of Malakoff. The

on the west side of the lake lets water into a canal to the Trinity River which is located in Tool, Texas. Other major creeks that contribute to the inflow are Caney Creek, Clear Creek, and King's Creek.

Fishing

The predominant fish species of Cedar Creek Lake are

blue catfish The blue catfish (''Ictalurus furcatus'') is the largest species of North American catfish, reaching a length of and a weight of . The typical length is about 25–46 in (64–117 cm). The fish can live to 20 years. The native distribution o ...

, channel catfish,

flathead catfish The flathead catfish (''Pylodictis olivaris''), also called by several common names including mudcat or shovelhead cat, is a large species of North American freshwater catfish in the family Ictaluridae. It is the only species of the genus '' ...

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, bu ...

white bass The white bass, silver bass, or sand bass (''Morone chrysops'') is a freshwater fish of the temperate bass family Moronidae. commonly around 12-15 inches long. The species' main color is silver-white to pale green. Its back is dark, with white ...

hybrid striped bass A hybrid striped bass, also known as a wiper or whiterock bass, is a hybrid between the striped bass (''Morone saxatilis'') and the white bass (''M. chrysops''). It can be distinguished from the striped bass by broken rather than solid horizont ...

, and crappie. The best fishing areas for largemouth bass are in the southern portion of the lake, where the water is clearer, especially the southern third of the lake in the large coves and inlets on Texas rig worms and top waters. Docks are a main place to catch the large bass. Always use Texas rigged worms, frogs, buzzbaits, and crainkbaits. Jigs are a huge plus at the docks. Grass beds can also be found in the southern end producing plenty of largemouth bass. spinner baits and worms The lake's record largemouth bass weighed 14.65 pounds (6.52 kg). Catfish can be found everywhere, with more blues than channels. Fishing is particularly good in the spring and into summer. Due to the many smaller streams, creeks, and run-offs flowing into the lake, running jug lines in the channels of the many coves using goldfish, shad, and small sunfish makes for very good blue catfish and flathead (yellow) catfish fishing grounds.

References

External links

* *
Tarrant Regional Water District

Cedar Creek Lake Community Website

Cedar Creek Lake Online Community Website

Cedar Creek Powerboat Association
{{authority control Reservoirs in Texas Protected areas of Henderson County, Texas Protected areas of Kaufman County, Texas Rivers of Henderson County, Texas Rivers of Kaufman County, Texas