McKay Reservoir 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...

 in Umatilla County

Umatilla County, Oregon

Umatilla County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is included in the 8 county definition of Eastern Oregon. The county is named for the Umatilla River. In 2010, its population was 75,889...

 of the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

. It is an impoundment of McKay Creek, a tributary of the Umatilla River

Umatilla River

The Umatilla River is an tributary of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Draining a basin of , it enters the Columbia near the city of Umatilla in the northeastern part of the state...

. The reservoir is located 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Pendleton

Pendleton, Oregon

Pendleton is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. Pendleton was named in 1868 by the county commissioners for George H. Pendleton, Democratic candidate for Vice-President in the 1864 presidential campaign. The population was 16,612 at the 2010 census...

 on U.S. Route 395

U.S. Route 395

U.S. Route 395 is a U.S. Route in the western United States. The southern terminus of the route is in the Mojave Desert at Interstate 15 near Hesperia. The northern terminus is at the Canadian border near Laurier, where the road becomes Highway 395 upon entering British Columbia. At one time, the...

. The reservoir has a capacity of 65534 acre.ft of water. The reservoir and land that immediately surrounds it are designated as the McKay Creek National Wildlife Refuge

McKay Creek National Wildlife Refuge

McKay Creek National Wildlife Refuge is a United States National Wildlife Refuge located between plains and the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon. The refuge provides habitat for rare and endangered species and breeding and migratory birds...

.

Natural history

The reservoir is jointly managed by the Bureau of Reclamation and the McKay Creek National Wildlife Refuge for irrigation water and a habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

 for a variety wildlife

Wildlife

Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....

 including osprey

Osprey

The Osprey , sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and across the wings...

, bald eagle

Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...

s, and an abundance of waterfowl

Waterfowl

Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....

. Fishing is permitted between March thorough September. McKay’s shallow water marshes and wetlands are also productive for warmwater fish such as rainbow trout

Rainbow trout

The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....

, crappie

Crappie

Crappie is a genus of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. The type species is P. annularis, the white crappie...

, 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...

, sunfish

Sunfish

-Saltwater fishes:*Molidae, family of Ocean Sunfishes*Opah, family Lampridae; two species-Freshwater fishes:* Pygmy sunfish, six members of the genus Elassoma* Centrarchidae, a perciform family of about 27 species...

, and yellow perch

Yellow perch

The yellow perch is a species of perch found in the United States and Canada, where it is often referred to by the shortform perch. Yellow perch look similar to the European perch, but are paler and more yellowish, with less red in the fins. They have six to eight dark, vertical bars on their sides...

, as well as brown bullhead catfish

Brown bullhead

The brown bullhead, Ameiurus nebulosus, is a fish of the Ictaluridae family that is widely distributed in North America. It is a species of bullhead catfish and is similar to the black bullhead and yellow bullhead...

, and lesser numbers of largemouth

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...

 and smallmouth bass

Smallmouth bass

The smallmouth bass is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of the order Perciformes. It is the type species of its genus...

.

Hydrology

The McKay Reservoir was built between 1923–1927 and furnishes supplementary water to Stanfield

Stanfield, Oregon

Stanfield is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,979 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Pendleton–Hermiston Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

 and Westland Irrigation Districts. The reservoir has an active capacity of 71534 acre.ft, of which 6000 acre.ft is used for exclusive flood control

Flood control

In communications, flood control is a feature of many communication protocols designed to prevent overwhelming of a destination receiver. Such controls can be implemented either in software or in hardware, and will often request that the message be resent after the receiver has finished...

. The Mckay reservoir is an impoundment of McKay Creek, a tributary of the Umatilla River

Umatilla River

The Umatilla River is an tributary of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Draining a basin of , it enters the Columbia near the city of Umatilla in the northeastern part of the state...

 and has an earth-fill dam

Embankment dam

An embankment dam is a massive artificial water barrier. It is typically created by the emplacement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil, sand, clay and/or rock. It has a semi-permanent waterproof natural covering for its surface, and a dense, waterproof...

.

The spillway section of the McKay Dam was modified 1978 through 1979 to increase the capacity from 10,000 to 27,000 cubic feet per second.

External links

• Oregon Water Quality Index Report for the Umatilla Basin Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
• McKay Creek National Wildlife Refuge U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service