The Harlan County Reservoir includes a dam and a reservoir of located in Harlan County in south-central Nebraska. Its southernmost part extends into northern Phillips County, Kansas. The reservoir is formed by a dam constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the

Republican River The Republican River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, rising in the High Plains (United States), High Plains of eastern Colorado and flowing east U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline ...

, which starts in Colorado and ends in Kansas. The two closest towns are Republican City and

Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...

. Republican City offers fishing supplies, boat rentals, restaurants and cabins. When the lake is at normal pool, Alma is on the shore line of the lake and offers lodging, restaurants, stores, and churches.

History

A number of Native American tribes lived in the

Valley throughout history. The Pawnee, Arapahoe and Cheyenne relied on the land for their survival. Early settlers and trappers arrived in the 1850s when the Nebraska Territory was formed. The rich river bottom soil lured many farmers into the area. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Native Americans told early settlers not to build big houses close to the river because of the "big water." In 1872, Dr. John McPherson moved from his Brownville, Nebraska home to the river valley. McPherson opened several stores and laid out lots in a town he called Republican. Once a post office was built, the town took the official name of Republican City. The

Burlington Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

reached the town in 1881, creating a booming trade center. On May 31, 1935 a storm dumped of rain on the Republican River watershed, which averaged nine inches (229 mm) annually. The flood wiped out Republican City within minutes, and 100 people lost their lives. Nearly 10,000 cattle were reportedly lost along the Republican River Valley along with 300 county bridges and over of roads and railway. The flood was responsible for over $26 million in damages. The town moved to avoid further damage, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers researched a potential location for the dam would work the best to prevent such flood loss. They chose an area between Republican City and Naponee. Republican City was rebuilt two miles (3 km) north on higher ground in 1952, with a few original buildings. Some of the original buildings' foundations are visible when the water level is low.

Geography

With a surface covering , the Harlan County Reservoir lake sits in bottom lands of the Republican River Valley. Located seven miles (11 km) from the Nebraska/ Kansas border, the lake is nine miles (14 km) long and has about of shore line. The Reservoir's dam sits on the

two miles (3 km) south of Republican City. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the river valley got its name from the Republican Pawnee Indian tribe who inhabited the area. The land consists of thick trees and brush as most river bottoms do. Harlan County Reservoir is Nebraska’s second largest lake.

Ecology

The lake is under the management of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps also manages surrounding the lake as well as the Republican River near the lake. Corps staff conduct safety inspections on the dam, working directly with the Kansas District Water Management to determine how much water is released from the reservoir into the Republican River. Corps Staff are also responsible for the upkeeps of the roads, utility systems, campsites, beaches, boat ramps, and picnic areas in and around the lake. The Corps also works directly with Nebraska Game and Parks Commission to manage the natural resources of Harlan County Lake.

Fish

The Harlan County Lake has fish species such as walleye, white bass, wipers, catfish,

crappie Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers. Etymology The genus name ''Pomoxis'' ...

and

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

. Ice fishing is popular on the reservoir as well.

Birds

According to the Nebraska Birding Trails website, birds found at Harlan County Reservoir have included common loon,

black-legged kittiwake The black-legged kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla'') is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Larus tridactylus''. The English ...

parasitic jaeger The parasitic jaeger (''Stercorarius parasiticus''), also known as the Arctic skua, Arctic jaeger or parasitic skua, is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. It is a migratory species that breeds in Northern Scandinavia, Scotland, Iceland, ...

, little blue heron,

white-faced ibis The white-faced ibis (''Plegadis chihi'') is a wading bird in the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. This species breeds colonially in marshes, usually nesting in bushes or low trees. Its breeding range extends from the western United States south ...

, and Sabine's gull. Bald eagles are also often spotted in the latter fall and winter months, especially at the Western end of the lake near Alma. Many migratory birds rely on Harlan county Reservoir each year as they pass through. With an abundance of water in the lake and river, and the thousands of acres of green wheat and

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

stalks, this area is crucial as the thousands of ducks and geese fly south to their mating grounds.

Mammals

The shoreline and rivers surrounding the reservoir sustain many mammal species.

Beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

and

muskrat The muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over a wide range of climates and habitat ...

use the muddy banks of the small creeks and streams in and out of the lake as habitat. This is a prime area for such creatures needing the smaller willows and trees to make their dams and huts. The thick brush of the river bottom ground is some of the state’s best whitetail deer hunting habitat. Field mice, moles, ground squirrels,

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

s, raccoons,

opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North ...

skunk Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or ginge ...

, badger,

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...

and many more rely on the habitat supported by the lake for their survival.

Plants

The main habitat of the Harlan County Lake area is mixed prairie grasses. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers these prairies consist of Big and Little Bluestem, Indian grass, western wheatgrass,

buffalo grass Buffalo grass may refer to * Buffalo grass, sweet vernal grass or vanilla grass (''Anthoxanthum odoratum'') * Buffalo grass (''Bouteloua dactyloides'') * Buffalo grass (''Brachiaria mutica'') * Buffalo grass or sweet grass (''Hierochloe odorata'') ...

blue gramma ''Bouteloua gracilis'', the blue grama, is a long-lived, warm-season ( C4) perennial grass, native to North America. It is most commonly found from Alberta, Canada, east to Manitoba and south across the Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, and U.S. M ...

and switch grass. Much of the area is covered by trees and brush as well. A strand of Cottonwood, ash, cedar, and maple trees just to name a few are found all along the Republican River and other lowland inlets leading up to the lake. The plants of any ecosystem make up most of the habitat.

Land maintenance

A current issue at Harlan County Lake has been a problem of invasive feral hogs destroying a lot of farmland and wildlife habitat while also increasing the chance of introducing disease to other wildlife and domestic hogs in the area. In February 2008 the Nebraska Game and Parks and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers exterminated 69 feral hogs from the Harlan County Lake area. They were shot from a helicopter by a professional sharpshooter from the

Kansas Wildlife Services Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. A large amount of native prairie and woodland have been converted back over the years in the area. Over 300,000 trees have been planted and of native prairie have been planted using funds from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Habitat Stamp Program.

External links

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Harlan County LakeNebraska Game and Parks Commission

References

Harlan County Lake
website.
"Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Targets Feral Hogs in Harlan County"
OutdoorNewsDaily.com.

website.
Harlan County Reservoir
webpage on the US Army Corps of Engineers website.
Harlan County Reservoir
information on the Nebraska Bird Trails website. {{authority control Bodies of water of Harlan County, Nebraska Protected areas of Phillips County, Kansas Reservoirs in Kansas Reservoirs in Nebraska United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Tourist attractions in Harlan County, Nebraska Dams in Nebraska Bodies of water of Phillips County, Kansas Federal lands in Nebraska