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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. Created by the construction of the John T. Montford Dam in 1993, it is operated and used as a future tertiary water supply by the city of
Lubbock
Lubbock ( )
is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
and serves as a recreational spot for the region of
West Texas
West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio.
No consensus exists on the boundary betw ...
. The surface area of the lake is with a mean depth of . Lake Alan Henry is located east of
Justiceburg, Texas
Justiceburg is an unincorporated community in Garza County, Texas, United States. It is located along the Double Mountain Fork Brazos River, southeast of the county seat, Post.
Geography
Justiceburg is located at (33.042072, -101.202992), in s ...
, and south of Lubbock.
Geography
Lake Alan Henry is located on the
Double Mountain Fork Brazos River
The Double Mountain Fork Brazos River is an ephemeral, sandy-braided stream about long, heading on the Llano Estacado of West Texas about southeast of Tahoka, Texas, flowing east-northeast across the western Rolling Plains to join the Salt Fork ...
in West Texas. South of Lubbock and east of Justiceburg, the lake extends and has over of shoreline. Its elevation is lower than the city of Lubbock. Lake Alan Henry has a maximum depth of with an average depth of , and the water is typically murky-to-clear with a visibility depth of one to four feet. Lake water levels fluctuate moderately between two and four feet per year. Vegetation of the lake mainly consists of flooded trees.
Operating at full capacity, Lake Alan Henry could potentially contain over 40 billion gallons of water.
Fish populations
Lake Alan Henry has been stocked with several different populations of fish in order to encourage recreational and fishing activities. Stocking of the lake began in 1993 with adult
shad
The Alosinae, or the shads,Alosinae gizzards. Between 1993 and 1994, Lake Alan Henry was stocked with
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, ...
,
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 ...
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 ...
, and other assorted fish by the
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 ...
. Currently, a consumption advisory is in place for certain species of fish found in the lake due to concerns of high levels of mercury.
History
In the 1960s, the city of Lubbock moved forward with plans to create another water source for its growing population, and after years of soil studies and engineering research, the current location of the John T. Montford Dam was chosen as the closest and most suitable area for the structure and subsequent reservoir. After an application was approved by the Army Corps of Engineers, design work on the dam began in the 1980s. Construction started in 1991, and after two years, the dam was completed and began operation in 1993. The dam was named in honor of Senator John Thomas Montford for his efforts in legislation concerning the reservoir; likewise, Lake Alan Henry was named for a former mayor of Lubbock.
In 1994, as the reservoir began to fill, a water sampling program was created by Lubbock city officials in order to establish baseline water quality data. Before its water can be officially utilized, it is projected three pumping stations, a new water treatment plant, and of pipeline are needed to be established in-between Lubbock and Lake Alan Henry. This would have a predicted maximum yield of 23 million gallons of water per day for Lubbock.
Today, the lake is used primarily as a recreational spot for the surrounding areas; fishing,
water skiing
Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffic ...
, hunting, and other outdoor activities (including hiking and camping) are the main draw for visitors to the lake. The Sam Wahl Recreational Area consists of over .
See also
*
Clear Fork Brazos River
The Clear Fork Brazos River is the longest tributary of the Brazos River of Texas. It originates as a dry channel or draw in Scurry County about northeast of Hermleigh and runs for about through portions of Scurry, Fisher, Jones, Shackelford ...
*
North Fork Double Mountain Fork Brazos River
The North Fork Double Mountain Fork Brazos River is an intermittent stream about long, heading at the junction of Blackwater Draw and Yellow House Draw in the city of Lubbock, flowing generally southeastward to its mouth on the Double Mountain For ...
*
Salt Fork Brazos River
The Salt Fork Brazos River is a braided, highly intermittent stream about long, heading along the edge of the Llano Estacado about east-southeast of Lubbock, Texas. From its source, it flows generally east-southeastward to join the Double Moun ...
*
White River (Texas)
The White River is an intermittent stream in the South Plains of Texas and a tributary of the Brazos River of the United States. It rises west of Floydada in southwestern Floyd County at the confluence of Callahan and Runningwater Draws. Fro ...