O.C. Fisher Reservoir is an artificial lake located west of the town of San Angelo

San Angelo, Texas

San Angelo is a city in the state of Texas. Located in West Central Texas it is the county seat of Tom Green County. As of 2010 according to the United States Census Bureau, the city had a total population of 93,200...

, 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...

. With the financial 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...

, construction on the dam to form the reservoir was begun by the United States Army Corps of Engineers

United States Army Corps of Engineers

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...

 in 1947 and the lake was officially impounded in 1952. Originally named San Angelo Lake, the reservoir was renamed in 1975 for local U.S. Congressman

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 O.C. Fisher, to honor his 23 years of service in the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

.

O.C. Fisher Reservoir was established to provide 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...

 and a secondary drinking water

Drinking water

Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...

 source for San Angelo and the surrounding communities in Tom Green County. The lake also serves as a recreational venue for fishing, boating, and swimming. The dam and reservoir are managed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, which leases 7677 acre (3,106.8 ha) of the surrounding shoreline to Texas Parks and Wildlife, for San Angelo State Park

San Angelo State Park

San Angelo State Park is a Texas state park in San Angelo, Texas in the United States. It encompasses leased by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department from the United States Army Corps of Engineers. It opened in 1995 and is located on the shores of the O.C. Fisher Reservoir.- History :The O.C...

.

Due to the 2011 drought affecting Texas, the water has recently taken on a reddish hue. The red color is caused by the bacteria Chromatiaceae

Chromatiaceae

The Chromatiaceae are the main family of purple sulfur bacteria. They are distinguished by producing sulfur globules within their cells. These are an intermediate in the oxidization of sulfide, which is ultimately converted into sulfate, and may serve as a reserve. Members are found in both...

, which is thriving in the oxygen-deprived water.

Fish populations

O.C. Fisher 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 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...

, 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 white crappie. As of 2011, due to severe drought conditions, the lake is nearly completely dry, and there are no living fish in the reservoir.