Cedar Bluff Reservoir is a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

in Trego County, Kansas,

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Built and managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for irrigation and area water supply, it is also used for flood control and recreation. Cedar Bluff State Park is located on its shore.

History

The severe drought in western Kansas during the 1930s created demand for irrigation projects and new sources for municipal water supplies. In response, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation began investigating the

Smoky Hill River The Smoky Hill River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, running through Colorado and Kansas. Names The Smoky Hill is named from the Smoky Hills region of north-central Kansas through which it flows. American Indians li ...

basin in 1941 to determine what would be feasible, but the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

halted the effort. The

Flood Control Act of 1944 The Pick-Sloan Flood Control Act of 1944 (P.L. 78–534), enacted in the 2nd session of the 78th Congress, is U.S. legislation that authorized the construction of numerous dams and modifications to previously existing dams, as well as levees ac ...

authorized the creation of Cedar Bluff Reservoir as part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, and investigations resumed in 1945. Construction of the reservoir and Cedar Bluff Dam began April 1, 1949 and took over two years to complete, finishing September 29, 1951. Difficulties in organizing an irrigation district delayed construction of a water distribution system for several years. Finally, in 1958, the Cedar Bluff Irrigation District was organized. Construction of the Cedar Bluff Canal commenced in February 1961 and finished in July 1963. In April 1963, the city of

Russell, Kansas Russell is the most populous city in and the county seat of Russell County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,401. History In 1865, the Butterfield Overland Despatch est ...

signed a contract with the Bureau of Reclamation to use a portion of Cedar Bluff Reservoir as a municipal and industrial water supply. In 1959, the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife established the Cedar Bluff National Fish Hatchery immediately east of the dam. Receiving its water from the reservoir, the hatchery raised fish stocks to supply waters in western Kansas, eastern

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. The flow of the Smoky Hill River declined sharply starting in the late 1960s, likely due to an increase in ground water pumping and the high evaporation rate in the region. Use of the reservoir for irrigation ended in 1978, and the Canal was shut down. The fish hatchery closed in 1983 and was re-purposed to raise

Canada geese The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), sometimes called Canadian goose, is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North ...

. The Cedar Bluff Irrigation District dissolved in 1994, and control of the portion of reservoir capacity dedicated to irrigation transferred to the Kansas Water Office and the

Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. Since the end of irrigation operations, the primary uses of Cedar Bluff Reservoir have been for recreation, overseen by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, and for flood control and municipal water supply, managed by the Bureau of Reclamation.

Geography

Cedar Bluff Reservoir is located at (38.7916792, -99.8781760) at an elevation of . It lies in west-central

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

in the

Smoky Hills The Smoky Hills are an upland region of hills in the central Great Plains of North America. They are located in the Midwestern United States, encompassing north-central Kansas and a small portion of south-central Nebraska. The hills are a diss ...

region of the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

. The reservoir is located entirely within Trego County. The reservoir is impounded at its eastern end by Cedar Bluff Dam. The dam is located at (38.7939014, -99.7226164) at an elevation of . The

is both the reservoir's primary inflow from the west and its outflow to the east. Smaller tributaries include Cedar Gorge, which flows north into the central part of the reservoir, and Page Creek, which feeds the reservoir's southeastern arm. Kansas Highway 147 runs generally north-south along the reservoir's eastern shore and across the top of the dam.

Hydrography

The surface area, surface elevation, and water volume of the reservoir fluctuate based on inflow and local climatic conditions. In terms of capacity, the Bureau of Reclamation vertically divides the reservoir into a set of pools based on volume and water level, and it considers the reservoir full when filled to the capacity of its active conservation pool. When full, Cedar Bluff Reservoir has a surface area of , a surface elevation of , and a volume of . When filled to maximum capacity, it has a surface area of , a surface elevation of , and a volume of . The streambed underlying the reservoir has an elevation of . Since the reservoir's initial flooding, sedimentation has gradually accumulated on the reservoir bottom thus raising its elevation.

Infrastructure

Cedar Bluff Dam is a rolled earth-fill

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface ...

with rock

riprap Riprap (in North American English), also known as rip rap, rip-rap, shot rock, rock armour (in British English) or rubble, is human-placed rock or other material used to protect shoreline structures against scour and water, wave, or ice erosion. ...

on its upstream face. It has a structural height of and a length of . At its crest, the dam has an elevation of . An uncontrolled

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure tha ...

is located at the south end of the dam. Gated outlet works through the base of the dam release water for downstream requirements.

Management

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation operates and maintains both the dam and the reservoir. The

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

assists by providing data and information on water regulation for flood control. The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWP) manages of land around the reservoir as the Cedar Bluff Wildlife Area.

Parks and recreation

The KDWP operates Cedar Bluff State Park located on the reservoir's eastern end. The park is divided into two areas: the Bluffton Area on the north shore and the Page Creek Area on the south shore. Both areas include boat ramps and camping facilities. The Bluffton Area also has a swimming beach and sports facilities. Cedar Bluff Reservoir is open for sport fishing year-round. Hunting is permitted on the public land around the reservoir although it is restricted in certain areas.

Points of interest

West of the park is Threshing Machine Canyon, the site of an 1867 American Indian attack on a wagon train carrying a

threshing machine A threshing machine or a thresher is a piece of agricultural machinery, farm equipment that separates grain seed from the plant stem, stalks and husks. It does so by beating the plant to make the seeds fall out. Before such machines were developed ...

. The canyon walls still bear carvings dating back to the mid-1800s. Located on the south shore of the reservoir's western end is the reservoir's namesake, Cedar Bluff. The

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

bluff provides a scenic view of the area.

Wildlife

Fish species resident in Cedar Bluff Reservoir include

black bass Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''Psy ...

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 ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and wiper. Game animals living around the reservoir include

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

, porcupines,

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Eura ...

turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

s, and

whitetail deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North, Central and South America. It is the most widely-distributed mainland ungulate ...

Dove Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

s, and

geese A goose (: geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (black geese). Some members of the Tadorninae subfamily (e.g., Egyp ...

migrate through the area seasonally.

Bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...

s and

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...

s visit in winter.

Gallery

File:Cedar Bluff Dam.jpg, Cedar Bluff Dam File:Cedarbluffreservoir2.jpg, Westward lake view from Cedar Bluff Dam (2006) File:Cedar Bluff Reservoir - Flickr - aspidoscelis.jpg, Ravine on the south side of the reservoir (2011)

References

External links

Cedar Bluff Dam
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Cedar Bluff State Park
Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism
Cedar Bluff Unit
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Cedar Bluff Wildlife Area
Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism {{authority control Bodies of water of Trego County, Kansas Dams in Kansas Reservoirs in Kansas United States Bureau of Reclamation dams Dams completed in 1949 1951 establishments in Arkansas