Sardis Lake is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French language, French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to water storage, store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a num ...

on the

Tallahatchie River The Tallahatchie River is a river in Mississippi which flows from Tippah County, through Tallahatchie County, to Leflore County, where it joins the Yalobusha River to form the Yazoo River. The river is navigable for about . At Money, Mississi ...

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

, Panola, and

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, a ...

counties,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Missis ...

. Sardis Lake is impounded by Sardis Dam, located southeast of the town of

Sardis Sardis () or Sardes (; Lydian: 𐤳𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣 ''Sfard''; el, Σάρδεις ''Sardeis''; peo, Sparda; hbo, ספרד ''Sfarad'') was an ancient city at the location of modern ''Sart'' (Sartmahmut before 19 October 2005), near Salihli, ...

. It is approximately an hour drive from Memphis,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. The dam is long, has an average height of , and a maximum height of .

History

Sardis Dam was the first of the

Yazoo River The Yazoo River is a river in the U.S. states of Louisiana and Mississippi. It is considered by some to mark the southern boundary of what is called the Mississippi Delta, a broad floodplain that was cultivated for cotton plantations before ...

headwaters projects to be built by the federal government for flood control. Authorization for the project came when President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As th ...

signed the

Flood Control Act of 1936 The Flood Control Act of 1936, , (FCA 1936) was an Act of the United States Congress signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on 22 June 1936.U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

built and operated the "Pontotoc", a special dredge powered by two electric motors to accomplish this task. The "Lower Lake" on the downstream side of Sardis Dam was created by the dredging operation. It has numerous recreation facilities, including John W. Kyle State Park.

Mississippi Highway 315 Mississippi Highway 315 (MS 315) is an state highway located in northern Mississippi. The highway consists of two segments, one from Mississippi Highway 9W, MS 9W near Paris, Mississippi, Paris in Lafayette County, Mississippi, Lafayette County t ...

splits while crossing the dam, with one route crossing the top and the other half crossing the base. Sardis Lake has a maximum storage capacity of of water. The lake is gradually drawn down during the fall and winter months to a "conservation pool" of . This permits spring rains across the lake's watershed to fill the reservoir without flooding downstream. Since the dam became operational, the dam's emergency spillway has been overtopped only three times by high water - in 1973, 1983 and 1991. The lake's typical "recreation pool" is . The lake is popular with anglers and has a reputation for its abundant bass and

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' ...

. Other recreation activities include hunting, camping, boating, skiing, swimming and picnicking.

Marina

The Sardis Lake Marina services the lake with access to fuel docks, 140 wet slips (both covered and uncovered), a restaurant, and a ship store. The Marina offers rental boats as well as rental skis, tubes, and knee/wake boards.

Fish

The main fish that live in the lake are

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, bu ...

, Spotted bass,

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 ...

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 ...

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 ''Py ...

Black crappie The black crappie (''Pomoxis nigromaculatus'') is a freshwater fish found in North America, one of the two types of crappies. It is very similar to the white crappie in size, shape, and habits, except that it is darker, with a pattern of black ...

, White crappie,

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 ...

Redear sunfish The redear sunfish (''Lepomis microlophus''), also known as the shellcracker, Georgia bream, cherry gill, chinquapin, improved bream, rouge ear sunfish and sun perch) is a freshwater fish in the family Centrarchidae and is native to the southeast ...

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 ...

External links

Sardis Lake and Dam (Official Website)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers *http://sardis.uslakes.info/FishingChart.asp

References

{{authority control Protected areas of Lafayette County, Mississippi Protected areas of Marshall County, Mississippi Protected areas of Panola County, Mississippi Reservoirs in Mississippi Dams in Mississippi United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Landforms of Lafayette County, Mississippi Landforms of Marshall County, Mississippi Landforms of Panola County, Mississippi