Brantley Lake is a reservoir on the

Pecos River The Pecos River ( ; ) originates in north-central New Mexico and flows into Texas, emptying into the Rio Grande. Its headwaters are on the eastern slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County north of Pecos, New Mexico, at an elev ...

located within Brantley Lake State Park () approximately north of Carlsbad, New Mexico off US 285. It is impounded by

Brantley Dam Brantley Dam is a flood-control and irrigation water-storage dam on the Pecos River in Eddy County, New Mexico Eddy County is a List of counties in New Mexico, county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 United States cens ...

, completed in the 1980s as part of the Brantley Project of the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and operatio ...

. The project's main purpose was to replace the old McMillan Dam, which had been declared unsafe. Additional benefits include irrigation, flood control, fish and wildlife enhancement, and recreation. Brantley Lake has a capacity assigned to flood control functions. Brantley Lake State Park is located in the Chihuahuan Desert region of southeastern New Mexico. Anglers can catch a variety of warm water fish such as

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater fish, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern United States, eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada an ...

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus''), known informally as the "channel cat", is a species of catfish native to North America. They are North America's most abundant catfish species, and the official state fish of Kansas, Missouri, Nebra ...

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 whit ...

bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or, in Texas, "copper nose", is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands ea ...

, 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 ''Pomoxi ...

. Brantley Lake is part of the larger Brantley Wildlife area that stretches approximately North-South in south eastern New Mexico.

References

External links

Brantley Lake State Park
{{authority control Reservoirs in New Mexico Bodies of water of Eddy County, New Mexico Buildings and structures in Eddy County, New Mexico Protected areas of Eddy County, New Mexico United States Bureau of Reclamation dams Dams in New Mexico Dams completed in 1989