A Fisheries Survey OF THE Big Wichita River System AND ITS IMPOUNDMENTS BY LEO D. LEWIS and WALTER W. DALQUEST Aquatic Biologists TEXAS GAME AND FISH COMMISSION H. D. Dodgen, Executive Secretary Austin, Texas 1009-157-500-L150 This report deals with biological investigations of the Big Wichita River, its tributaries and impoundment lakes, carried on between June 15, 1953 and May 31, 1955. The bulk of the data reported here was originally compiled in several Job Completion Reports that formed parts of two Dingell-Johnson Federal Aid Projects: Texas F-7-R-1 and Texas F-7-R-2. Division of Inland Fisheries TEXAS GAME AND FISH COMMISSION Austin, Texas Marion Toole, Director IF Report Series—No. 2 February, 1957 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are deeply indebted to Dr. Carl Gray, Soils Scientist of Mid- western University and the Wichita County Water Improvement Districts, for the great number of water analyses which were so important in this survey. A number of water analyses during the early stages of this survey were also made by Dr. William Trodgon, pre- viously Soils Scientist at Midwestern University. Mr. Fred Parkey, General Manager of the Wichita County Water Improvement Dis- tricts I and 2, has aided us in many ways. Dr. D. L. Ligon, President of Midwestern University, and Dr. Ruth Holtzapfel, Chairman of the Department of Biology of the University, have made library facilities and equipment available to us. Mr. John Joerns, Area En- gineer for the U. S. Geological Survey, Division of Water Resources, has furnished the data on volume of stream flow. Much of the com- pleteness of the information in the following pages is the result of interest and hard work on the part of the several field assistants who worked with us in the long, often arduous surveys. We especially wish to acknowledge the help of Field Assistant James F. Thiel, who, more than any other field assistant, spent many long hours on this project. Appreciation is also offered to William H. Brown, Assistant Director, Division of Inland Fisheries, for the final editing of the manuscript. And last, but not least, to our wives who have been so considerate and understanding and who spent many hours typing contributing segment reports and the final manuscript, we say in grateful acknowledgment, "Thanks." FOREWORD This is the second of a series of surveys on lakes and streams in Texas. These surveys are being conducted by the Division of Inland Fisheries in order to determine the status of the state's fresh waters. Recent surveys are being conducted under the provisions of the Dingell-Johnson Federal Aid Program. Under the provisions of this program the Federal Government contributes 75 percent of the over- all cost of the project, and the State Game and Fish Commission contributes 25 percent of the total cost. MARION TOOLE Division of Inland Fisheries TEXAS GAME AND FISH COMMISSION TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 9 Methods 12 Description of the Big Wichita River, Its Tributaries and Impoundments 13 Water of the Big Wichita River and Its Impoundments 27 Fishes of the Big Wichita River and Its Impoundments 39 Quantitative Analysis of the Fish Population of the Big Wichita River System 49 Pollution of the Big Wichita River 57 Siltation and Erosion of the Watershed of the Big Wichita River 59 Recommendations 61 Literature Cited 63 Figure 1. Drainage area of the Big Wichita River. Numbers indicate permanent study stations on the river, as follows: 1, Byers Bridge Station; 2, Deadman Bridge Station; 3, Diversion Dam Station; 4, Kemp Dam Station; 5, Benjamin Station; 6, Guthrie Station; 7, Crowell Station; 8, Johnson Oil Field Station; 9, Hackberry Station. Figure 2. Typical cedar brake country, near the head of the South Fork of the Big Wichita River. The dominant woody vegetation is a species of juniper. Overlying prairie soils have been washed away, exposing the red Permian sediments, upon which little but juniper grows. Sub- sequent erosion is rapid and swift siltation of rivers and reservoirs results. Figure 3. Typical side of an arroyo in Knox County. The dark red (lower) sediments are the red beds of the Texas Permian. Pale material overlying is mid-Pleistocene sand and gravel of the Seymour Formation. Cedars are growing in prairie soils of Recent age. Figure 4. An arroyo, or dry wash, in Knox County. Thousands of such arroyos in the cedar brakes are tributary to the Big Wichita River in its headwaters. A FISHERIES SURVEY OF THE BIG WICHITA RIVER SYSTEM AND ITS IMPOUNDMENTS By LEO D. LEWIS and WALTER W. DALQUEST Aquatic Biologists Between June 15, 1953 and May 31, 1954, Lake Kemp and Lake Diversion, the largest impoundment lakes of the Big Wichita River, were studied in an attempt to determine the following facts: species of fishes present in the lakes, their relative numbers, and the ecolog- ical factors that might have an effect on their distribution. From June 1, 1954 to May 31, 1955, Lake Wichita, another moderately large impoundment lake of the Big Wichita watershed, was studied with the same ends in view. During this same time we made a study of the Big Wichita River itself, and its tributary streams and springs, to gather fundamental data concerning the physical and chemical nature of the waters as well as to determine the customary biolog- ical information. This report summarizes the results of the two-year investigation of the river system. INTRODUCTION The Wichita River is the major stream draining north-central Texas. This honor would belong to the Red River were it not that, politically, the Red River, where it forms the common boundary between Texas and Oklahoma, lies entirely in Oklahoma. The Wichita River is the largest tributary of the Red River in Texas. Unlike most Texas streams, that drain southward or southeastward to the Gulf of Mexico, the Wichita River runs northeastward to the Red, and the Red River flows eastward along the Texas-Oklahoma boundary, into Arkansas and Louisiana, before turning to the Gulf of Mexico. Though some headwater streams of the Wichita River are quite close to those of the Brazos and the Trinity Rivers, the Wichita follows a widely divergent course to the Gulf. The Wichita is not a large river. Its straight-line length from per- manent flowing headwaters to its confluence with the Red is only about 165 miles. Nevertheless, it drains more than 4,000 square miles of north-central Texas, and located along the river or its tributaries are three of the few moderately-large impoundment lakes found in northern Texas. Geologically, the entire Wichita River drainage area lies within the Red Beds of the Texas Permian. These are largely marine and delta sediments of sandstone, shale, dolamitic limestone, gypsum, salt and conglomerate, locally, there are small beds and lenses of Pleistocene [91 sands and conglomerate, largely consisting of reworked Cretaceous materials. Except where removed by erosion, the older rocks and sedi- ments are covered with a thin layer of Quaternary deposits, partly de- rived from disintegration of underlying rocks and partly of aeolian origin. The Permian geology is especially important in a study of the biology of the Wichita River because the vast bulk of the solids, both dissolved and suspended, as well as bottom materials, are of Permian origin. The salts, especially sodium chloride and calcium sulfate, so important to the ecology of the river, its water, and the surrounding land, are Permian. The relative hardness of the successive strata of Permian rocks and the later erosional history of the area have determined the geography of the Wichita River. Near the headwaters of the river, the land is extremely rough and broken. The river flows in narrow canyons, bordered by high cliffs. The land is typified by exposed rock, steep hills, deep gullies and almost no level land, except for the floodplain of the river. Further eastward, the land is level to gently rolling and the river has a broad valley, many miles in width. The land form has determined the nature of the river. Near the headwaters the streams are swift and crystal-dear, descending over beds of rock, sand or gravel in a series of rapids, separated by deep pools. Further downstream, the river bed becomes braided sand and quicksand until it enters Lake Kemp. The river between Lake Kemp and Lake Diversion is dependent for flow on the release of water from the floodgates of the Lake Kemp dam. When the gates are closed, as they are during much of the year, the river is but an inch or so deep over a mud or sandy-mud bottom. Below Lake Diversion, the river becomes a mature stream, turbid, slow and deep, flowing over a sand or mud bottom in a series of wide meanders. The entire Big Wichita drainage area lies within the Mesquite Plains Biotic District, as defined by Blair (1950) . However, there are striking changes in vegetation type as one follows the length of the river. Near the headwaters, in Cottle, King and Knox counties, the cedar forms the dominant vegetation of the uplands and the area is usually termed the "Cedar Brakes." Further east, away from the desiccated canyons and rocky cliffs, and where the ground is more level, the mesquite is dominant. Downstream from Lake Diversion, the uplands are still covered with mesquite, but broad-leafed trees, bramble thickets and vines occur in the river valley. Still farther downstream, between Wichita Falls and the mouth of the river, the mesquite gives way to. grassy prairie, and the broad river valley is forested with oaks and elms and has a typical, thorny, understory vegetation.