Lake Kickapoo 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 on the North Fork

Little Wichita River The Little Wichita River is a river in Texas. See also *List of rivers of Texas *Geology of Wichita Falls, Texas *Little Red River (Texas) The Little Red River is an intermittent stream about long, formed at the confluence of the North Prong a ...

in the

Red River Basin The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North; it is part of both Canada and the United States. Forming the border between Minnesota and North Dakota when these territories were admitted ...

Archer County, Texas Archer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 8,560. Its county seat is Archer City. It is part of the Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area. History In 1858, the Texas Legislat ...

. It is neighbored by

Archer City, Texas Archer City is a city in and the county seat of Archer County, Texas, United States. The city lies at the junction of State Highway 79 and State Highway 25. It is located 25 miles (40 km) south of Wichita Falls, and is part of the Wichi ...

(population of 1,834) and

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accordin ...

(population of 104,553) which reside within the Central Great Plains ecoregion.

Hydrology

Lake Kickapoo reservoir was created by the impoundment of North Fork Little Wichita River, its only in-flow

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 drainage ...

, in 1946. The out-flow tributaries are Kickapoo Creek, Brier Creek, and Slippery Creek. It has a mean water level of 1,038 feet, surface area of 4,312 acres, and elevation of 1,060 feet above sea level as of 2022. The storage capacity, as of October 29, 2022, is 51,596 acre-feet with a maximum capacity of 86,345 acre-feet. The reservoir storage has steadily dropped by 293 acre-feet/year since 1945 when it had a total capacity of 106,000 acre-feet, due to increasing drought events in the region.

Ecoregion

Lake Kickapoo resides within the Broken Red Plains subdivision of the Central Great Plains ecoregion. The Broken Red Plains ecoregion is defined by red clay and sandy soils, with irregular sandstone and shrub-covered surface of the even more specific Wichita Formation ecoregion. It is predominantly grass-/

shrublands Spring Park is a small area in London, England. It is within the London Borough of Bromley and the London Borough of Croydon, straddling the traditional Kent-Surrey border along The Beck. Spring Park is located north of Addington, west of West ...

with plant species like Texas wintergrass,

blue grama ''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 ...

, buffalograss, sand bluestem, etc. The

riparian vegetation A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...

includes species such as cedar elm trees,

pecan tree The pecan (''Carya illinoinensis'') is a species of hickory native to the southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River. The tree is cultivated for its seed in the southern United States, primarily in Georgia, ...

s, black willow trees, and tobosa grass. This region has an annual precipitation of 30 inches and mean air temperature of 41 degrees Fahrenheit in January and 84 degrees Fahrenheit in July.

Uses

Water supply

The construction of Lake Kickapoo Dam began in January 1945 and was completed on December 15, 1945. However, the deliberate impoundment of the North Fork Little Wichita River, a

of the Red River, did not occur until February 1, 1946. Lake Kickapoo Dam is classified as earth-fill embankment dam with a length of 8.200 feet (including

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 tha ...

) and height of 62 feet. This dam's maximum design water surface has the capability to reach 1,060 feet above sea level but has been experiencing much lower levels due to recent droughts in the area. The dam's uncontrolled spillway is classified as

ogee An ogee ( ) is the name given to objects, elements, and curves—often seen in architecture and building trades—that have been variously described as serpentine-, extended S-, or sigmoid-shaped. Ogees consist of a "double curve", the combinatio ...

concrete and has a crest elevation of 1,045 feet above sea level. Lake Kickapoo reservoir is owned by the city of Wichita Falls and operated for the continued use as a water supply. Although it is owned by the city of Wichita Falls, the dam is regulated by the government entity

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is the environmental agency for the state of Texas. The commission's headquarters are located at 12100 Park 35 Circle in Austin. The fourth largest environmental agency in the United States (an ...

U.S. Naval Space Surveillance

One of the nine

Air Force Space Surveillance System The AN/FPS-133 Air Force Space Surveillance System, colloquially known as the Space Fence, was a U.S. government multistatic radar system built to detect orbital objects passing over America. It is a component of the U.S. space surveillance ...

(formerly NAVSPASUR) sites is located at Lake Kickapoo (33°32.764′N 98°45.763′W)
Lake Kickapoo Field Station
is one of three transmitter sites of the southern surveillance network, which is operated by the U.S. Naval Command. The purpose of these stations is to maintain an electromagnetic fence that has the capability to identify objects as far as 15,000 nautical miles. The Lake Kickapoo field station was constructed in 1951 to fill a gap in the surveillance fence. It is considered unique due to its transmitting power of 560 kilowatts via the combination of commercial FM and TV power unit frequencies.

Recreation

Sports fishing

The main source of recreation for Lake Kickapoo is

sports fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing ...

. The reservoir contains sports fish species, such as

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 ...

(abundant),

Channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States, the ...

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 ''P ...

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 ...

(abundant),

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

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 ...

(declining in abundance). These fish species are supported by

prey fish Forage fish, also called prey fish or bait fish, are small pelagic fish which are preyed on by larger predators for food. Predators include other larger fish, seabirds and marine mammals. Typical ocean forage fish feed near the base of the fo ...

, such as

Gizzard shad ''Dorosoma'' is a genus that contains five species of shads, within the herring family Clupeidae. The five species are native to the North and/or Central America, and are known from both fresh water and the waters of estuaries and bays. The Am ...

(abundant) 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 ...

(decreased abundance). Management plans have been enacted to support the genetic diversity of Largemouth Bass due to this species designation as a source for

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 ...

hatchery brood stock program. This is due to the decline in habitat for

spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquat ...

and nursery areas via decreased water elevation.

History

Namesake

The name was derived from the Native American Kickapoo tribe that was native to that area along with the nearby inflow stream, Kickapoo Creek.

Land use

There is an elevated abundance of

honey mesquite ''Prosopis glandulosa'', commonly known as honey mesquite, is a species of small to medium-sized, thorny shrub or tree in the legume family (Fabaceae). Distribution The plant is primarily native to the Southwestern United States and Northern M ...

in the Broken Red Plains that has been associated with the 19th century cattle drives and subsequent

grazing pressure Grazing pressure is defined as the number of grazing animals of a specified class (age, species, physiological status like pregnant) per unit weight of herbage (herbage biomass). It is well established in general usage. Definition Grazing pre ...

via land use.

Dam

Lake Kickapoo Dam was designed by F. M. Rugeley and A. J. Gates.

References

External links

* * {{authority control Protected areas of Archer County, Texas Kickapoo 1947 establishments in Texas Protected areas established in 1947 Bodies of water of Archer County, Texas