Document Type

Research

Abstract

Lake Macbride, a 138-acre state-owned artificial lake in Johnson County, was drained in the fall of 1956 to permit reconstruction of the dam. The Coralville Flood-Control Dam on the nearby Iowa River was nearing the final phases of construction, and would ultimately flood the present Lake Macbride with 27 feet of water. Rather than destroy the facilities offered by this established recreational area, the various agencies involved decided to increase the height of the Macbride dam by approximately 29 feet. Surface area of the impounded lake would be expanded to about 940 acres at the new spillway elevation. The Macbride impoundment is situated in a deep valley with two arms protruding from the main body of the lake. Maximum depth at the time of original construction was reported as approximately 30 feet, but heavy siltation had reduced this to 20 feet. As in most artificial lakes the shoreline is highly irregular and bottom topography extremely steep. Water and temperature samples taken during the annual fisheries survey indicate thermal and chemical stratification were limited to certain favorable periods during the summer months. Vegetation is restricted mostly to the shoal and shallow bay areas. Complete drainage projects of this nature are extremely valuable in estimating fish populations providing the outlet structure and terrain are suited to trapping fish as they exist from the lake. A similar study was conducted by Speaker (1948) at Beed's Lake in Franklin County. Since little information concerning fish populations of Iowa artificial lakes can be located in the literature it seemed expedient to obtain basic population data from this impoundment. The final project was designed to: (1) study the population structure and balance; (2) determine the age and species composition of each specific population; and (3) study the effects of past management practices.

Publication Date

1958

Journal Title

Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science

Volume

Issue

First Page

565

Last Page

570

Copyright

Language

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Mayhew, James (1958) "The Fish Population of a Southern Iowa Artificial Lake," Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, 65(1), 565-570.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol65/iss1/81

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The Fish Population of a Southern Iowa Artificial Lake

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