Cheney Reservoir is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including control ...

on the

North Fork Ninnescah River The North Fork Ninnescah River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America. Its entire length lies within the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a tributary of the Ninnescah River. Geography The North Fork Ninnescah River originates in so ...

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

, Kingman, and

Sedgwick Sedgwick may refer to: People * Sedgwick (surname) Places Australia * Sedgwick, Victoria England * Sedgwick, Cumbria, England * Sedgwick, West Sussex, England * Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge, England United States * Sedgwick, Arkansas * Sedg ...

counties of

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

in the

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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Built and managed by the

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and 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 opera ...

for local water supply, it is also used for flood control and recreation.

Cheney State Park Cheney State Park is a state park of Kansas in the United States. Completed in 1964, the park is located in Kingman and Reno counties in Kansas, 5 miles north of Cheney and 20 miles west of Wichita. The park is divided into two are ...

is located on its shore. Map of Reno Co, Ks, USA

History

The

, and later the Arkansas-Red-White Basin Interagency Committee established in 1950, conducted studies on the

Ninnescah River The Ninnescah River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America. Its entire length lies within the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a tributary of the Arkansas River.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution fl ...

basin as part of an investigation of the broader

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United S ...

basin. The investigation resulted in a water-use and control plan including the construction of reservoirs and the use of available water as a regulated supply for the city of

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

. Wichita needed an additional water supply to supplement its existing supply wells. The water of the Arkansas River was of poor quality and too polluted to use, leaving the Ninnescah as the next closest potential source. The Bureau of Reclamation issued a report in 1957, and the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

authorized the construction of Cheney Dam and Reservoir in 1960. Construction began in 1962 and finished in 1965. Storage of water in the reservoir began with the closure of the river outlet works in November 1964, and delivery of water to the city of Wichita began in the summer of 1965. Conservation storage of water increased until the reservoir was filled in October 1968.

Geography

Cheney Reservoir is located at (37.7597113, -97.8350121) at an elevation of . It lies in south-central

in the Wellington Lowlands region of the Great Plains. Most of the reservoir lies in

Reno County Reno County (standard abbreviation: RN) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 61,898. The largest city and county seat is Hutchinson. History Early history For many millennia, the G ...

though its southwestern portion extends into Kingman County, and a small portion along the dam lies within Sedgwick County. The junction of the three counties' borders lies in the reservoir. The reservoir is impounded at its southeastern end by Cheney Dam (National ID # KS00017). The dam is located at (37.7252898, -97.7975511) at an elevation of . The middle portion of Cheney Dam lies in the northwest corner of Sedgwick County, its southwestern end lies in Kingman County, and its northeastern end lies in

. The

is both the reservoir's primary inflow from the northwest and its outflow to the southeast. Kansas Highway 251, which runs north-south, connects the reservoir to

U.S. Route 54 U.S. Route 54 (US 54) is an east–west United States Highway that runs northeast–southwest for from El Paso, Texas, to Griggsville, Illinois. The Union Pacific Railroad's Tucumcari Line (former Southern Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific and ...

to the south and the community of Cheney to the south. Below the dam, the highway becomes a paved county road and turns northeast, running parallel to the dam then finally turning east. 21st Street North, another paved county road, runs east-west immediately south of the dam. There are two settlements at Cheney Reservoir, both

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is ...

, located west of the dam, and St. Joe, located east of the reservoir's southeastern end.

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, Cheney Reservoir has a surface area of , a surface elevation of , and a volume of . When filled to maximum capacity, it has an approximate surface area of , a surface elevation of , and a volume of . The streambed underlying the reservoir has an elevation of .

Infrastructure

Cheney Dam has a structural height of and a length of . At its crest, it has an elevation of . Its upstream face is covered with

soil cement Soil cement is a construction material, a mix of pulverized natural soil with small amount of portland cement and water, usually processed in a tumbler, compacted to high density. Hard, semi-rigid durable material is formed by hydration of the ce ...

while its downstream face consists of a layer of topsoil and grass. It has 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 t ...

that leads to a conduit and stilling basin as well as two sets of outlet works: one for the river and one for Wichita's municipal water supply.

Management

The

owns and operates the dam and reservoir for flood control and municipal water supply purposes as part of its Wichita Project. The City of Wichita operates a pumping facility below the dam which pipes water to a treatment plant in the city. The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWP) manages of land around the reservoir as the Cheney Wildlife Area.

Parks and recreation

The KDWP operates

located on both shores of the reservoir's southern end. The park is divided into two areas: the East Shore Area and the West Shore Area. Both areas include boat ramps, campgrounds, and swimming beaches. The East Shore Area also hosts a full-service marina, and the West Shore Area includes hiking trails as well as the Ninnescah Sailing Center. Cheney 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. In addition, certified range officers operate the Cheney Shooting Range on weekends at the north end of the Cheney Wildlife Area.

Wildlife

Fish species resident in the reservoir include

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, th ...

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 ''Pomo ...

striped bass The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has ...

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

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 white ...

, and wiper. Two invasive species, the

white perch The white perch (''Morone americana'') is not a true perch but is a fish of the temperate bass family, Moronidae, notable as a food and game fish in eastern North America. In some places it is referred to as "Silver Bass". The name "White pe ...

and the

zebra mussel The zebra mussel (''Dreissena polymorpha'') is a small freshwater mussel. The species originates from the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, but has been accidentally introduced to numerous other areas and has become an invasive species in ma ...

, live in the lake as well. Game animals living around the reservoir include

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 short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primaril ...

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 native range is restricted to Eurasia ...

quail Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New ...

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit s ...

s, and

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey, which was originally ...

s. Other land animals in the area include

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IU ...

muskrat The muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over a wide range of climates and habita ...

opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered Nort ...

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight o ...

s, red foxes, and

skunk Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or gi ...

Information technology

In 2016,

geolocation Geopositioning, also known as geotracking, geolocalization, geolocating, geolocation, or geoposition fixing, is the process of determining or estimating the geographic position of an object. Geopositioning yields a set of geographic coordinates ...

company MaxMind announced that its default locations for various countries would be manually changed to point to bodies of water instead of pointing to places on land; this included setting the middle of Cheney Reservoir as the default location for the United States. MaxMind's default locations are placed near the geographic centers of their respective countries, and are the coordinates that MaxMind's online geolocation service provides whenever it's queried for an IP address where it can only determine the country of origin. Before the 2016 change, MaxMind's default location for the United States was a farmhouse in nearby Potwin, but this caused significant legal trouble for its residents due to various people and organizations assuming that the farmhouse was the actual source of certain malicious IP addresses.

References

External links

;Official
Cheney Dam
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Cheney State Park
Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism
Cheney Wildlife Area
Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism
Wichita Project
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation ;Maps * Kingman County Maps
Current
KDOT * Reno County Maps
Current
KDOT * Sedgwick County Maps
CurrentHistoric
KDOT {{authority control Dams in Kansas Reservoirs in Kansas United States Bureau of Reclamation dams Buildings and structures in Kingman County, Kansas Buildings and structures in Reno County, Kansas Buildings and structures in Sedgwick County, Kansas Earth-filled dams Dams completed in 1965 Bodies of water of Kingman County, Kansas Bodies of water of Reno County, Kansas Bodies of water of Sedgwick County, Kansas