Description

Lake Athens is a 1,799 acre

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 to the east of

Athens, Texas Athens is a city and the county seat of Henderson County, Texas, Henderson County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 12,857. The city has called itself the "black-eyed pea, Blac ...

in Henderson County. The Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center is located on the north shore of the lake. The lake is located in the Neches River Basin on Flat Creek (a tributary of the

Neches River The Neches River () begins in Van Zandt County west of Rhine Lake and flows for through the piney woods of east Texas, defining the boundaries of 14 counties on its way to its mouth on Sabine Lake near the Rainbow Bridge. Two major reservoirs, ...

). It has a maximum depth of 50 feet. Lake Athens Dam has a length of 3,000 feet and a maximum height of 67 feet. The drainage area contained by the dam is 21.6 square miles.

History

The Lake Athens reservoir was constructed in 1962. The Athens Municipal Water Authority oversees Lake Athens and Lake Athens Dam. The construction of the dam began on September 25, 1961, and was completed in May of 1963. The design engineer for the dam project was Wisenbaker, Fix, and Associates. The contractor for the project was Elm Fork Construction Co. Lake Athens was built for recreation, flood control, and water supply. The Caddoan Indians lived in the region and made pottery out of clay deposits in the area. The name "Athens" came from the city Athens, Greece. This name was suggested by Dulcina A. Holland in 1850.

Recreation

The only boat ramp located on Lake Athens is on the northwestern side at Lake Athens Marina. Boat traffic is minimal and allows for calm water for fishing and water skiing.

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

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 ...

are the primary target of recreational fisheries on the lake. Other species include white bass, channel and flathead catfish, spotted gar, smallmouth buffalo, freshwater drum, and bowfin. Largemouth Bass on Lake Athens range from 3 to 8 pounds. A 82lb 3oz

smallmouth buffalo The smallmouth buffalo (''Ictiobus bubalus'', from the Greek for "bull-fish" and "buffalo") is a catostomid fish species native to the major tributaries and surrounding waters of the Mississippi River in the United States, as well as some other w ...

taken from Lake Athens in 1993 stands as the IGFA all tackle world record for the species.

Wildlife

There are several species of wildlife to be seen on Lake Athens. Alligators, javelina hogs, ducks, geese, dove, squirrels,

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

, and quail are among the many animals at the reservoir.

Plants

Lake Athens is in the Texas Post Oak Savannah wildlife district. It has many types of trees including pecans, elms, oak, eastern red cedar, and walnuts.There are over 200 varieties of wildflowers at Lake Athens. The wildflower season begins in early spring and ends at the first frost of the year. Lake Athens has both submerged and emergent native species of plans. Some of the submerged plants include

American Pondweed American pondweed is a common name for several aquatic plants, and may refer to: *''Elodea canadensis'', in the family Hydrocharitaceae, with many small leaves on a submerged stem *'' Potamogeton epihydrus'', in the family Potamogetonaceae, and kno ...

, Coontail, and Eelgrass. Some of the emergent plants include American Lotus,

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 Water Primrose.

Invasive Species

Several invasive aquatic plants have been found in the Lake Athens reservoir. The invasive aquatic plant species

giant salvinia ''Salvinia molesta'', commonly known as giant salvinia, or as kariba weed after it infested a large portion of Lake Kariba between Zimbabwe and Zambia, is an aquatic fern, native to south-eastern Brazil. It is a free-floating plant that does n ...

was a nuisance on the Lake for more than twenty years but was eradicated in 2019. Other invasive species include alligatorweed, hydrilla, water hyacinth, and crested floating heart.

References

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Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...