User:AntrelleClark98/Lake Limestone

Location

Lake Limestone is an artificial reservoir that is located near Groesbeck and stretches across the Limestone, Leon and Robertson counties. The longitude (31° 19' 18.60" N) and latitude (-96° 19' 1.80" W) of Lake Limestone places it a couple of hours outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and surrounding cities such as Thornton, Texas.^[1] It is a part of the Brazos River Basin, where it is home to the impounded Navasota River.

Hydrology

The Navasota River is impounded by a dam; the Navasota River Dam (also known as the Sterling C. Robertson Dam) was constructed in 1978 to help exert sewage control on approximately 675 square miles.^[2] This dam regulates the amount of water released downstream to support nearby generating powering plants.

The water level is controlled by the Brazos River Authority. At full capacity, the lake reaches about 363 feet above sea level, stretching across 16 miles with a surface area mean of 13,680 acres. The maximum depth of Lake Limestone reaches 43 feet below sea level but it varies between one and three feet based on how much water is taken from the lake as needed and deposited into the lake based on precipitation rates.^[3] The shoreline of Lake Limestone is irregular

Physiochemical Characteristics

The turbidity of the lake is good overall as the water seems to be moderately clear.^[4] With good transparency throughout the lake, it supports an oligotrophic system. The lake's pH is slightly alkaline.^[4] The soil of this ecoregion ranges from light brown to dark grey.^[5] The texture of the soil ranges from acidic sandy loams to acidic clays.^[5]

Ecoregion

The state of Texas is divided into 10 different ecoregions. Lake Limestone resides within the Post Oak Savannah ecoregion.^[5] The Post Oak Savannah ecoregion receives between 28 inches and 40 inches of rainfall annually, with the months of May and June serving as peak precipitation months.^[5]

Flora

There are many aquatic vegetation available that provides fish with additional habitat at Lake Limestone including cattails, lily pads, water hyacinth, hydrilla, and willows.^[3] The presence of these aquatic plants affects the lake's chemical aspects such as the pH and nutrient concentration. The vegetation provided is used to preserve benthic (live on the bottom of the sea floor) organisms and reduce shoreline erosion.^[6]

Fauna

Additionally, Lake Limestone is home to many fauna. Based on the streams that flow into the lake and the underwater structure used to attract fish, Lake Limestone has a high species diversity rate.^[7] Fish populations include different species of bass (black bass, largemouth bass, whitemouth bass) and catfish (blue catfish, channel catfish, flathead catfish).^[7] Since there is a good amount of each species present throughout these waters, these fishes are available daily.^[3]

Invasive Species

In the years of 2002 and 2003, a species native to the Amazon basin showed up in Lake Limestone's waters.^[8] The water hyacinth (scientifically known as Eichhornia crassipes) began appearing in Lake Limestone, serving as a pest. It was removed from the lake after showing up near the Navasota dam and has not been spotted since.^[8]

Uses/Purposes

It is used to provide clean water for agricultural, industrial, and municipal purposes in high demand. ^[6] The Sterling C. Robertson Dam is used to control the flow of water downstream by releasing water as necessary for power generating plants and irrigation purposes. Additionally, the Navasota River dam is used to cool electrical powering plants near the area including the NRG steam-electric plant and the Texas Municipal Power Agency plant.^[9]

Recreation

Lake Limestone's initial purpose was to provide clean water to the surrounding communities and power generation plants located downstream; however, over time it has become a water body that supports a great amount of recreational activities.^[7] These recreational activities include fishing, boating, swimming, canoeing, kayaking, jet skiing, water skiing, wakeboarding, tubing, camping and cabin grounds (vacation), picnicking, hiking, hunting, wildlife viewing, birding, and shopping.^[7] As long as the water level is appropriate enough, most amusement activities are permissible and available for the publics use.^[9]

These grounds are known for having camping and vacation benefits, but also have stable sediments to support real estate properties located along the shoreline.

History

This reservoir was constructed in 1978 when the Brazos River Authority built the Sterling C. Robertson Dam.^[9] The Sterling C. Robertson Dam was embanked using concrete and earth filled sediments and stretches about 8,400 feet across with a height of 72 feet tall.^[9] Sterling C. Robertson was a man from Tennessee born in 1785. He received his education from Judge John McNairy and later went on to colonize 800 families in Texas.^[10] He served on the Washington-on-the-Brazos convention, and Congress of the Republic of Texas where he initialed on the Texas Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the Republic of Texas documents.^[10] The Sterling C. Robertson reservoir blocks over 73 billion gallons of water from flooding downstream environments, releasing water as needed through five regulated gates and emergency spillways.^[9] Lake Limestone resides in the Post Oak Savannah ecoregion of Texas, where it was founded by early settlers who discovered oak forest belts along prairie grasslands.^[5]