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Lake Findley - 2004 Survey Report

Prepared by John Findeisen and Aaron Walters
Inland Fisheries Division
District 1-E, Mathis, Texas

This is the authors' summary from a 28-page report. For a copy of the complete report, use the download link in the sidebar.

Lake Findley (formerly Alice City Lake) was surveyed in fall 2004 using trap nets and electrofishing and spring 2005 using gill nets. This report summarizes the results of the surveys and contains a management plan for the reservoir based on those findings.

Reservoir Description

Lake Findley is a 288-acre reservoir located on Chiltipin Creek, in the San Fernando Creek Basin, one mile north of Alice. It receives water from Chiltipin Creek and from Lake Corpus Christi via pipeline, and is used for water supply and recreation. Shoreline access is adequate, while handicap and boat access are inadequate. The lake is shallow and turbid. Substrate is composed primarily of small rock, clay, sand, and silt. Littoral habitat consists of periodically flooded terrestrial vegetation, timber, and deadfalls.

In 1998, the City of Alice began introducing native aquatic vegetation as mitigation for a 1996 fish kill. Survival rates of the native aquatic vegetation have been highly variable due to water level fluctuations. In 2002, water stargrass and American pondweed were abundant throughout the low end of the reservoir. However, by 2004 these species were non-existent. Emergent species, bulltongue and pickerel weed have established and spread beyond the planting sites. Floating-leaved species, white water lily and spatterdock have established and spread throughout the reservoir.

The reservoir can fluctuate as much as 3 feet as a result of inflows and usage by the City of Alice. After a fish kill in May 1998, the City of Alice agreed to try to maintain the water level at approximately 192.0 ft MSL. Since May 1998 there have been four additional fish kills in the reservoir. These fish kills occur from late spring through the summer, shortly after the City of Alice begins pumping water via pipelines from Lake Corpus Christi. Approximately 26 acre-feet of water (~3.5% of the volume of Lake Findley) can remain in the two, 30-mile pipelines for extended periods of time, becoming anoxic. When the pipelines are opened, the fish respond to the flow by swimming up the canal into the anoxic water, resulting in a fish kill.

Fish Community

Management Strategies

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Performance Report as required by Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act Texas Federal Aid Project F-30-R-29 Statewide Freshwater Fisheries Monitoring and Management Program



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