E.V. Spence Reservoir (also known as Lake E.V. Spence) is an

artificial lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

located west of (and upstream from) the town of Robert Lee,

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 reservoir was impounded by the creation of Robert Lee Dam in 1969, with the support of the

Upper Colorado River Authority The Upper Colorado River Authority or UCRA was created in 1935 by the Texas Legislature as a quasi-governmental entity to manage the Colorado River as a water resource in Tom Green County and Coke County, Texas. The authority has since been ex ...

, to provide a reliable

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...

for Robert Lee and the surrounding communities in Coke County. The lake also serves as a recreational venue for fishing, boating, and swimming. Robert Lee Dam is managed by the Colorado River Municipal Water District.

Fish populations

E.V. Spence Reservoir has been stocked with species of fish intended to improve the utility of the reservoir for recreational fishing. Fish present in the lake include

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 ...

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 ...

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

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 ...

Severe drought

In July 2011, the reservoir's level had sunk to less than 0.76% full — effectively dry. Severe drought conditions and record summer high temperatures in the area caused the Colorado River Municipal Water District to stop any further water withdrawals from

Midland, Texas Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Midland County with small portions extending into Martin County. The population was 132,524 as of the 2020 census. Located in the Permian Basin in West Texas, Midland is a ...

and surrounding communities. If the reservoir empties, the formerly reliable water source from the reservoir will need to be supplanted by trucking in water from other sources to supply the town of Robert Lee. By September 2012, the lake reached its lowest level of 0.19% full, less than 1,000 acre-feet of storage, and an elevation of 1810.14 ft above datum, which was 87.86 feet below full. The lake would recover rapidly to nearly 6% capacity after a major rain event in September 2012. As of May 2015, the lake was 4.4% of capacity, up from 2% in May 2014. As of August 2, 2019, the lake was at 30.5% capacity.

References

Reservoirs in Texas Colorado River (Texas) Dams in Texas United States local public utility dams Bodies of water of Coke County, Texas 1969 establishments in Texas Protected areas of Coke County, Texas {{CokeCountyTX-geo-stub