Wichita Falls water supply is ‘in a good place,’ officials say

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - After historic rainfall this spring, the Wichita Falls water reservoirs are still sitting near full and lake levels are high.

City officials say the water supply is in a good place heading into next year, and local fishing guides are seeing the benefits. News Channel 6’s Tucker Roberts spoke with the Water Treatment Operations Manager and some local fishers about what this means moving forward.

After the historic rainfall in April, Lake Arrowhead and Kickapoo hit full capacity. Even with recent below-average rain levels, the lake levels have stayed high.

“This time of year especially is just phenomenal fishing,” said Brandon Brown, a practiced fishing guide and owner of Brown’s Guide Service.

Due to the lake’s higher-than-usual levels, the City of Wichita Falls is confident about the water supply heading into next year, and anglers say it’s making for a great fishing season.

“It’s always a hard thing to determine because you don’t know when the rain is going to come, right?” said Mark Southard, Utilities Operations Manager for the City of Wichita Falls. “But, as we’re currently sitting, we have plenty of supply to stretch us into next year and hopefully avoid those stage 1 and 2 drought restrictions as we get into next summer.”

Right now, combined levels are sitting at 87%, a 22% increase compared to last year, and this has added new hotspots to fish that weren’t there before.

“When the lake’s up, it makes all that shallow water fishing available. As the lake goes down, like the backs of the coves and some of those shallow water flats, you know, they’ll dry up,” Brown said.

He says with the combination of higher lake levels and cooler weather coming in, it’s the best time to be catching some big catfish.

“I’m out there every day, catch anywhere from [...] 58 today and we had 91 the other day,” Brown said.

Brown’s Guide Service says ever since Lake Arrowhead filled back up after the drought in 2015, he’s been booked around six to eight months out of the year.

The City says that if they ever have a drought as severe as before, it would substantially impact the future of Wichita Falls. That’s why permits are being pursued to start the construction of Lake Ringgold, which will blend into the water supply.

“It’ll be in combination with Lake Arrowhead and Lake Kickapoo. It’s roughly expected to be about the size of Lake Arrowhead, so it’d be like doubling the size of Lake Arrowhead. So, you know, it’s an extra benefit, obviously, to the city once Lake Ringgold is in place,” said Southard.

For more information on Wichita Falls’ lake levels and water supply, visit the City of Wichita Falls’ official website.