Choke Canyon 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 ...

South Texas South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 4.96 ...

, United States. The lake and the dam that creates it are owned by the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

and managed by the City of Corpus Christi.

Geography

Choke Canyon Reservoir is 4 miles (6 km) west of the town of Three Rivers and about 65 miles (105 km) south of the city of

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

. It impounds water from the

Frio River The Frio River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas. The word ''frío'' is Spanish for ''cold'', a clear reference to the spring-fed coolness of the river. Geography The Frio River has three primary tributaries; the East, West, and Dry Frio Ri ...

shortly before the river's confluence with the

Nueces River The Nueces River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas, about long. It drains a region in central and southern Texas southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the southernmost major river in Texas northeast of the Rio Grande. ''Nueces'' ...

. The reservoir covers 25,670 acres (103.9 km²) in

Live Oak Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus ''Quercus'' that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are not more closely related to each other than they are to other oaks. ...

and McMullen counties, and has a capacity of more than of water.

Uses

Choke Canyon Reservoir provides drinking water for the city of Corpus Christi. The reservoir also provides good fishing opportunities, especially for

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, but ...

and

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

. Choke Canyon State Park, located in two places on the south shore of the lake, provides access to the lake and a number of other recreational activities.

Fish and plant life

Choke Canyon Reservoir has been stocked with species of fish intended to improve the utility of the reservoir for recreational fishing. Fish present in Choke Canyon Reservoir include

alligator gar The alligator gar (''Atractosteus spatula'') is a ray-finned euryhaline fish related to the bowfin in the infraclass Holostei . It is the largest species in the gar family, and among the largest freshwater fish in North America. The fossil ...

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 s ...

white crappie The white crappie (''Pomoxis annularis'') is a freshwater fish found in North America, one of the two species of crappies. Alternate common names for the species include goldring and silver perch. is named for the fish. The genus name ''Pomoxis ...

, and

, sunfish, and

bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and ...

. Plant life in the lake includes American pondweed, coontail, water stargrass, rushes,

cattail ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in A ...

, and

hydrilla ''Hydrilla'' (waterthyme) is a genus of aquatic plant Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from ...

. It is also the westernmost range of the

American Alligator The American alligator (''Alligator mississippiensis''), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile native to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the two extant species in the g ...

. The site hosted a rare bird, a Spotted Rail, in December 2020, attracting hundreds of birdwatchers. The record represents the 3rd record of the species for Texas, and the 4th for the United States.

References

External links

* Texas Parks & Wildlife Department pages fo
Choke Canyon Reservoir
an
Choke Canyon State ParkChoke Canyon Reservoir
a
recreation.govUSBR page

Choke Canyon ''Choke Canyon'' (titled ''On Dangerous Ground'' outside the United States) is a 1986 movie starring Stephen Collins as a "cowboy scientist" trying to develop an alternative energy source. It was filmed mostly in the vicinity of Moab, Utah. Pl ...

Protected areas of Live Oak County, Texas Protected areas of McMullen County, Texas Dams in Texas United States Bureau of Reclamation dams Dams completed in 1982 Bodies of water of Live Oak County, Texas Bodies of water of McMullen County, Texas 1982 establishments in Texas {{McMullenCountyTX-geo-stub