Medina Lake 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 ...

on the

Medina River The Medina River is located in south central Texas, United States, in the Medina Valley. It was also known as the Rio Mariano, Rio San Jose, or Rio de Bagres (Catfish river). Its source is in springs in the Edwards Plateau in northwest Bandera ...

in the

Texas Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Ameri ...

of the

United States 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 territorie ...

. It is operated by the Bexar/Medina/Atascosa County Agricultural District.

Medina Dam The Medina Dam is a hollow-masonry type dam built in 1911 and 1912 by the Medina Irrigation Company in what became Mico, Texas, USA. Medina Lake extends north of it in northeastern Medina County and southeastern Bandera County. The dam and irri ...

was completed in 1913 in a privately financed project, creating the lake to supply

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

water for local agricultural use. Lake Medina is in northeastern Medina County, and southeastern Bandera County, about 40 miles (64 km) northwest 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 is a

crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his ...

-shaped

running west to east. It is 18 miles (29 km) long and 3 miles (5 km) wide at its broadest point. It is contained by the

at the lake's south end. At the time of the dam's construction, it was the largest concrete dam in the country and the fourth largest dam overall. The dam is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The lake is fed by and discharges back into the

, and serves both recreational and irrigation uses. Communities located along the lake are

Mico People * Mićo Janić (born 1979), Croatian sprint canoer * Mićo Ljubibratić (1839–1889), Serbian revolutionary * Mico Palanca (1978–2019), Filipino actor * Mićo Smiljanić (born 1974), Serbian/Montenegrin footballer * Mićo Stanišić (born ...

, Lake Medina Shores and Lakehills.

Fish populations

Medina Lake has been stocked with species of fish intended to improve the reservoir for recreational fishing. Fish in Medina Lake include

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 ...

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 ...

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 horizonta ...

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, ...

, and

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

. Due to drought conditions lasting up until July 2015, recreational fish species had disappeared. Plans to restock the lake once levels reach viable levels were put in place. These plans were realized when the lake did reach these levels, which as of October 2, 2016, is 96.6% full.

Future and state of the lake

As part of the

2010–13 Southern United States drought 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, the lake water levels dropped below 5% capacity. Many cracks, oil drums and a Jeep are visible as a result of low water. Only one public boat ramp remains, located at Red Cove in Mico. A few showers in the Summer of 2013 helped the lake rise to 5.2%, but the dam was reopened in September as many people in the South Side of San Antonio use the lake for a water source. Many businesses have closed in the area, many residents have left and Lakehills has become somewhat of a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

. Heavy rainfall in the region as of May, 2015 brought the levels above 46% capacity. At that time, Medina Lake was about 28 feet low, down from 90 feet low mere months before. Due to heavy rains on the Medina River basin & the lake itself in May 2016, Medina Lake is 100% full and 1.5 feet above its conservation pool as of June 1, 2016.

References

Reservoirs in Texas Bodies of water of Bandera County, Texas Bodies of water of Medina County, Texas {{MedinaCountyTX-geo-stub