Millwood Lake

Millwood Lake
Location	southwestern Arkansas
Coordinates	33°45.83′N 94°1.23′W
Type	reservoir
Catchment area	4,144 sq mi (10,730 km2)
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	29,200 acres (11,800 ha)
Shore length1	65 mi (105 km)
Surface elevation	259.2 ft (79.0 m)
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Millwood Lake is a reservoir in southwestern Arkansas, United States. It is located 9 miles (14 km) from Ashdown. The lake is formed from the damming of the point where the Little River and the Saline River meet.

Statistics

Lake statistics

• Drainage area above the dam: 4,144 sq mi (10,730 km²)
• Elevation above sea level of the top of flood control pool: 287 ft (87 m)
• Elevation above sea level of the top of conservation pool: 259.2 ft (79.0 m)
• Elevation above sea level of the top of inactive pool: 252 ft (77 m)
• Surface area of lake at top of flood control pool: 95,200 acres (38,500 ha)
• Surface area of lake at top of conservation pool: 29,200 acres (11,800 ha)
• Shoreline length at top of conservation pool: 65 mi (105 km)

Dam statistics

• Length of dam: 17,554 ft (5,350 m)
• Maximum height of dam above streambed: 88 ft (27 m)
• Length of spillway: 616 ft (188 m)
• Length of non-overflow section: 271 ft (83 m)
• Spillway crest gates (13), size: 40 ft × 32 ft (12.2 m × 9.8 m)
• Outlet conduits (2), size: 5.67 ft × 6 ft (1.73 m × 1.83 m)
• Water supply pipe (1), diameter: 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)

Overview

Lake Millwood is mainly recognized for its beauty and fishing. There are 15 recreational parks around the lake to provide campers with picnic areas, boat ramps, swimming areas, showers, and restrooms. Millwood is a superb place to fish, mainly due to its 35,000 acres (14,000 ha) of submerged timber that make excellent homes for the many varieties of fish in the lake. Millwood has also been known as one of the best bass fishing lakes in the United States. Every year it is home of many bass fishing tournaments and fishing derbies, all in search of Millwood's lunker largemouth bass. Other species of fauna around the lake include white-tailed deer, bobwhite quail, squirrel, dove, rabbit, raccoon, armadillo, opossum, fox, mink, and beaver. Boating is also popular in Millwood Lake, but only a little part of the whole surface area of the lake can be used as boating due to the submerged timber that takes up 30,000 acres (12,000 ha) of the pond. Lake Millwood also has remarkable flora life such as gum, oak, birch, pine, juniper, flowering shrubs, and wildflowers.

The Millwood Lake project was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1946, and modified by the Flood Control Act of 1958. The dam and lake was designed and built by the Tulsa District of the Army Corps of Engineers, which still maintains the lake's Beard's Bluff recreation center. The projects construction work began in 1961, and was finished for flood control operations in 1966 at a cost of $44,000,000. The lake and dam was dedicated on December 8, 1966. The lake is the key in the general flood reduction system for the Red River below Lake Texoma.

Benefits of the lake have been restoring wildlife, providing water to nearby areas, and preventing an estimate of $9,715,000 in flood damage. In Ashdown, Arkansas, the lake supplies their Domtar's (formerly Georgia Pacific) Communications Paper Division with 50 million gallons of water each day for its operations. The lake also provides drinking water to the city of Texarkana, Arkansas through a water treatment plant located at Ashdown.

See also

• List of Arkansas dams and reservoirs

External links

• Millwood Lake at the Library of Congress Web Archives (archived 2009-06-18)
• Bathymetric Map, Area/Capacity Table, and Sediment Volume Estimate for Millwood Lake, Near Ashburn, Arkansas, 2013 United States Geological Survey
• Fishing Millwood Lake Black Bass, Crappie and Catfish