E.V. Spence Reservoir is an artificial lake located west of (and upstream from) the town of Robert Lee

Robert Lee, Texas

Robert Lee is a city in and the county seat of Coke County, Texas, United States. The founders named the city after Robert E. Lee, who is thought to have set up camp for a time near the current townsite on the Colorado River. Lee served in Texas from 1856 to 1861 as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. The reservoir was impounded by the creation of Robert Lee Dam in 1969, with the support of the Upper Colorado River Authority

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 extended to include Schleicher County and Concho County...

, to provide a reliable water supply

Water supply

Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...

 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

Striped bass

The striped bass is the state fish of Maryland, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and the state saltwater fish of New York, Virginia, and New Hampshire...

, largemouth bass

Largemouth bass

The largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...

, white bass

White bass

The white bass or sand bass The white bass or sand bass The white bass or sand bass (MoroneIt is the state fish of Oklahoma.- Range :White bass are distributed widely across the United States, particularly in the midwest. They are very abundant in Pennsylvania and the area around Lake Erie...

, and catfish

Catfish

Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...

.

Severe Drought

In July 2011, the reservoir's level had sunk to less than 0.76% full — effectively dry. Severe drought conditions

2011 Southern US drought

The 2011 Southern US drought is a severe to extreme ongoing drought plaguing several US states which include Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The worst hit has been Texas, where near...

 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, Texas

Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States, on the Southern Plains of the state's western area. A small portion of the city extends into Martin County. As of 2010, the population of Midland was 111,147. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas...

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.