Reservoirs and their Roles on the

Aquatic Landscape of the Gulf Coast

Prairie LCC

Jeff Boxrucker Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership June 17, 2014

Mission - The Reservoir Fisheries Habitat Partnership is a national partnership established to promote and facilitate the conservation of habitat for fish and other aquatic species in reservoir systems through collaborative actions that contribute to:

• The ecological health and function of reservoirs and their associated waters and watersheds

“The same ecosystem functions that provide for sustainable fish and wildlife populations also provide communities with significant benefits, such as good water quality, flood and fire protection, and recreation.”

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Rising to the Challenge: Strategic Plan for Responding to Accelerating Climate Change September 2010

Results of lower-48 assessment Impaired Stream Reaches (NFHP 2010)

IRHI

1,351 Survey Responses

Scope Impounded rivers ≥100 hectares

western mountains

xeric

southern plains

northern plains

temperate plains

upper midwest

southern Appalachians

coastal plains

northern Appalachians

EPA wadeable stream assessment NFHP (Michigan State)

Nine EPA ecoregions

water regime, structure, nutrients, siltation,

connectivity, degraded shorelines structure,

siltation, nutrients,

connectivity, degraded

shorelines, water regime

structure, nutrients, water regime, siltation, connectivity, degraded

shorelines

Structure, siltation, nutrients,

connectivity,

nutrients, siltation, excessive veg., structure, connectivity, degraded

shorelines

structure ,siltation, excessive veg.,

connectivity, nutrients, water regime

excessive veg., siltation, structure, connectivity,

degraded shorelines, nutrients,

structure, siltation, nutrients, excessive

veg., degraded shorelines, water

regime

degraded shorelines, water regime

Western Mountains

Xeric

Northern Plains

Southern Plains

Temperate Plains

Upper Midwest

Northern Appalachians Coastal Plains

Southern Appalachians

INDEX OF RELATIVE

HABITAT INTEGRITY

f construct I of the n constructs that make up the IRHI,

f mean score for the j metrics with loadings > 0.6 in the i factor, and m metric i of the j metrics that make up f

Miranda, L. E., and K. M. Hunt. 2010. An index of reservoir

habitat impairment. Environmental Monitoring and

Assessment172:225-234.

Miranda, L. E., M. Spickard, T. Dunn, K. M. Webb, J. N.

Aycock, and K. Hunt. 2010. Fish habitat degradation in U.S.

reservoirs. Fisheries 35(4):176-184.

IRHI= f + f +1 + …….. + f f = 1 if 0 < f 3 if 1.5 < f < 3.5; 5 if 3.5 < f < 5

𝑓 =𝑚 + 𝑚 + … … + 𝑚

𝑗

i+1 j

i

i i i i

i

i

i

n

i

i

64 reservoirs

USACE IMPOUNDMENTS SW DIVISION

51.6 % Insufficient Vegetation/Invasive Aquatic Plants

34.4% Sedimentation Issues (scored 4 or 5)

• >5,000 acres of new land at TNWR

• Ca. 80 acres/year

Sedimentation Affects Widow Moore Cove-Washita River Arm of Lake Texoma

1969

1991

1983

2003

27.9% Loss of Cove Habitat

27.4% Excessive Suspended Sediments

23.8% Excessive Littoral Mudflats

993

994

995

996

997

998

999

1000

1001

1002

1003

Jan March May July Sept Nov

20.6% Unfavorable Seasonal Rule Curve

20% Insufficient Structure

B.A. Steinhagen

Bardwell

Navarro Mills

Heyburn

Texoma

Hugo

Great Salt Plains

Marion

Fall River

Elk City

10 most impaired

Sam Rayburn

Hords Creek

Whitney

Pat Mayse

Birch

Lake O’ the Pines

Gilham

DeQueen

Dierks

Wright Patman

10 least impaired

Prioritization Parameters

• Habitat Impairments

• Recreational Use/Economic Value

• Amount of Public Land

• Available Funding

• Willing Partners

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

U.S. Texas Oklahoma

Total Anglers Anglers Reservoirs and Lakes

Nu

mb

er

of

An

gle

rs (

mill

ion

s)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

U.S. Texas Oklahoma

Total Anglers

Exp

en

dit

ure

s (b

illio

ns)

Reservoir Construction vs. No. Anglers Fishing Reservoirs & Lakes

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

1905 1915 1925 1935 1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2010

An

gle

rs R

ese

rvo

irs/

Lake

s (m

illio

ns)

Nu

mb

er

of

new

re

serv

oir

s

Year

New Reservoirs

Reservoir/Lake Anglers