Lake Austin is a reservoir

Reservoir

A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...

 on the Colorado River

Colorado River (Texas)

The Colorado River is a river that runs through the U.S. state of Texas; it should not be confused with the much longer Colorado River which flows from Colorado into the Gulf of California....

 in Austin, Texas

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The reservoir was formed in 1939 by the construction of Tom Miller Dam

Tom Miller Dam

Tom Miller Dam is a dam located at 30.2932, -97.7855 on the Colorado River within the city limits of Austin, Texas, USA. It is one of several dams constructed by the City of Austin for the purpose of flood control and for generating hydroelectric power...

 by the Lower Colorado River Authority

Lower Colorado River Authority

The Lower Colorado River Authority or LCRA is a nonprofit public utility that was created in November 1934 by the Texas Legislature. LCRA's mission is to protect people, property and the environment by providing public services for more than one million people in Central and Southeast Texas...

.
Lake Austin is one of the seven Highland Lakes

Texas Highland Lakes

The Texas Highland Lakes is a chain of seven reservoirs in Central Texas formed by several dams on the Colorado River. This portion of the river winds southeast from its headwaters near the border of Texas and New Mexico to Matagorda Bay and the Gulf of Mexico...

 created by the Lower Colorado River Authority, and is used for flood control, electrical power generation, and recreation. Loop 360 spans the lake at the Pennybacker Bridge

Pennybacker Bridge

The Pennybacker Bridge in Austin, Texas bridges Lake Austin to connect north and south Loop 360 highway, also known as the "Capital of Texas Highway." The road is widely considered one of the most scenic urban drives in central Texas, in large part due to this arched weathering steel bridge and...

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The other reservoirs on the Colorado River are Lake Buchanan, Inks Lake

Inks Lake

Inks Lake is a reservoir on the Colorado River in the Texas Hill Country in the United States. The reservoir was formed in 1938 by the construction of Inks Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority. Located near Burnet, Texas, the lake serves to provide flood control in tandem with Lake Buchanan...

, Lake LBJ

Lake LBJ

Lake Lyndon B. Johnson is a reservoir on the Colorado River in the Texas Hill Country in the United States. The reservoir was formed in 1950 by the construction of Granite Shoals Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority. The Colorado River and the Llano River meet in the northern portion of the...

, Lake Marble Falls

Lake Marble Falls

Lake Marble Falls is a reservoir on the Colorado River in the Texas Hill Country in the United States. The reservoir was formed in 1951 by the construction of Max Starcke Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority. Originally named Marble Falls Dam, the dam was renamed in 1962 for Max Starcke, the...

, Lake Travis

Lake Travis

Lake Travis is a reservoir on the Colorado River in central Texas in the United States. The reservoir was formed in 1942 by the construction of Mansfield Dam on the western edge of Austin, Texas by the Lower Colorado River Authority...

, and Lady Bird Lake.

Fish and wildlife populations

Lake Austin has been stocked with several species of fish intended to improve the utility of the reservoir for recreational fishing. Fish present in Lake Austin include 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...

, 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...

, and sunfish

Centrarchidae

The sunfishes are a family of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes. The type genus is Centrarchus . The family's 27 species includes many fishes familiar to North Americans, including the rock bass, largemouth bass, bluegill, pumpkinseed, and crappies...

. Lake Austin is one of the Texas Highland Lakes infested with hydrilla

Hydrilla

Hydrilla is an aquatic plant genus, usually treated as containing just one species, Hydrilla verticillata, though some botanists divide it into several species. Synonyms include H. asiatica, H. japonica, H. lithuanica, and H. ovalifolica...

, a non-native aquatic plant species. The Lower Colorado River Authority has intentionally lowered the water levels in the lake in the months of January and February so that freezing air temperatures might destroy substantial portions of the hydrilla

Hydrilla

Hydrilla is an aquatic plant genus, usually treated as containing just one species, Hydrilla verticillata, though some botanists divide it into several species. Synonyms include H. asiatica, H. japonica, H. lithuanica, and H. ovalifolica...

in the lake each winter.

External links

• Lake Austin - Texas Parks & Wildlife