TPWD 1955 F-7-R-3 #125: A Basic Survey of and Inventory of Species in the Little Wichita River in North-central Texas, lying in the Counties of Baylor, Archer, and Clay

evxt.s Prey ,Ehseis_;;i,r,,l; STATE Texas PROJECT HO. FTRB Jobs.A—3 and B-3 Combined PERIOD June 1! 1925 to May 31, 1955 Job Completion Report Leo D. Lewis, Project Leader Whlter-Dalquest, Assistant Project Leader TITLE A Basic Survey of and Inventory of Species in the Little Wichita River in'florth- central Texas, lying in the flounties of Baylor, Archer, and Clay. OBJECTIVES To gather fundamental data on the above waters in regard to their physical, chemical, and biological aspects, and to determine the species of fishes present, as well as the relative abundance and ecological factors influencing the distribution of such fishes. ' SCOPE The entire length of the Little Wichita River is included in this report, from headwaters to its confluence with the Red River of Oklahoma. Excluded is Lake Kickapoo, the only major impoundment of the Little Wichita River at this time. The fisheries biology of this reservoir has been previously reported (Completion Report F731, Job 3-3, 195h.) TECHWIQUES Sample stations were established at six points along the length of the Little Wichita River, at carefully selected localities between the headwaters of the stream and its mouth. At these sample stations, chemical and physical data concerning the water were taken.menthly. Seine samples of the fishes present were preserved in formalin for laboratory examination and identifications. At the twe stations where the water was deep enough for the use of gill nets, and where seining could not give an adequate picture of the fish populations, overnight net sets were maintained. The fishes taken in gill nets were weighed and.measured in the field. Ripe ovaries and filled stomachs of game fishes were saved for laboratory examination. Pathological conditions were noted or, when necessary, preserved in formalin for histological examination. On a few occasions fish collections were made with the use of rotenene. Ecological data were obtained by'"walkingm out" selected sections of the river. There are no important permanent-flowing tributaries of the Little Wichita River. ABKHGWLEDGNEHTE We wish to express here our appreciation to Dr. Carl Gray, Soils Scientist of Midwestern University and the Wichita County Water Improvement Districts, for makeing the numerous water analyses so important to this study. INTRODUCTIUE An accident of geology and the erosional history of Horthcentral TExas has forced 2. upon the Little Wichita River a role far more important than its nice would seem to Justify. Throughout most of its length the Little Wichita River is a narrow, muddy intermittent stream, scarcely worthy of the designation "river." However, this stream is virtually the only adequate supply of fresh water in an area of saline streams and rivers so arid that wear is at a premium. One large reservoir, Lale Kickapoo, exists on the Little Wichita River at the present time, and another is to be constructed in the very near future. Still others will doubtless he made later. The growing population of the region and heavy fishing pressure demands a careful study of the river so that the sports fisheries of the new lakes can be better managed for the public good. BASIC SUHWEI OF TE LITTLE WICEITA RIVER The Little Wichita River is apparently of relatively recent origin. To the north the Big Wichita River is entrenched nearly 135 feet deeper, on a course almost parallel to that of the Little Wichita, while to the south the Brasos River also parallels the Little Wichita and is cut some SO feet deeper. In central Baylor County the Brasos bends northward and the Big Wichita bends southward until these tworivers come to lie quite close together. Between them they drain the land west of the sources of the Little Wichita and limit the westward extent of. this stream. This capture of the land west of the present Little Wichita River has two important results. The Little Wichita is an intermittent stream, because the only per- manently flowing springs in the area lie to the westward, beyond the drainage of the Little Wichita River. The Little Wichita River is confined to a shallow valley out only into the Admiralty Formation of the Permian Wichita Group, and possibly near its mouth into Cretaceous sediments. The entire valley of the Little Wichita is thus on non-marine sediments, and the salt and gypsum beds of the younger, marine Permian rocks are to the westward and are drained by the Big Wichita and the Brasos. For this reason the waters of the Little Wichita are ”sweet" and suitable for human consumption and most fish life. The Little Wichita River is a small stream, its straight-line length being only about 75 miles. Its origin is a series of arroyos and a shallow but broad valley south of the railroad station of Folds, in eastern Baylor Oounty. It follows a rather sinuous course to the east-northeast to its confluence with the Red River of Oklahmna, in extreme eastern Clay County. The total drainage area is approximately 1,000 square miles. A major reservoir, lake Kickapoo, is located near the hoadwaters of the Little Wichita, in Archer County, and is the water supply of the city of Wichita Falls. Another and larger reservoir is soon to be constructed on the lower part of the river, in Clay County. Ecologically the drainage system of the Little Wichita River lies in the Mesquite Plains Biotic Prevince, although some of the drainage area near the mouth of the river is within the outlying groves of the post-cake of the West Cross Timbers. The shores and inrnediate environs of the river itself, however, are remarkably uniform and unlike the arid mesquite-desert. The soil is usually a deep, rich hum-us or silt and supports a rather dense vegetative cover of trees, especially ales and cotton woods with an undergrowth of wild-plum, briars and other woody shrubs and vines. Only for a few miles downstream from Lake Kickapoo Dam, where there is ordinarily no water flow, is the broadleaf vegetation absent. There the dry river-channel is of sand and boulders and adjacent vegetation consists of mesquite, pale-verde, cacti and other desert plants. The Little Wichita River is but shallowly entrenched. The headwaters, west of Lake Kickapoo, are cut through 12 to 15 feet of brownish gravel and soil and form a channel rarely more than 25 feet wide and with vertical banks. Bones of Bison found in these gravels indicate a late Pleistocene or more probably Recent age, and prove the relative youth of the Little Wichita River. The slot-like river channel is cut into a broad, grassy valley, perhaps two miles wide at most, lying between exposed outcrops of Permian sandstones. Ho terraces are apparent here and the valley seems to have been formed by aluvium washed from the surrounding hills. The river bed is composed of sand and small areas of gravel. Ordinarily the river is intermittent here, composed of a series of larger or smaller pools separated by sandy reaches. During the study year the headwaters were never completely dry, but this year was not especially arid for the region. We suppose that in the past fifteen years, the headwaters have been dry for years at a time except after rains. In times of heavy rain the river floods swiftly and bacomes a raging torrent. The river drains rapidly and within hours the flood recedes, usually leaving only a series of disconnected pools in a matter of a few days after the rains cease. Only where the river enters Lake Kickapoo is it permanent, deep and sluggish as it flows between low, muddy banks. The original nature of the river where now flooded by Lake Kickapoo is obscured. The land surrounding the lake is high, composed of hills and areas of barren land. Bloost all exposed land is Permian in age, with but thin and scattered areas of Recent soils in level areas. Below the Lake Kickapoo dam, the river is ordinarily a dry arroyo. Only twice since Lake Kickapoo was constructed has the lake overflowed its spillway. On those occasions it ripped out a gash through the surface soils, exposing fifteen feet or more of Rocent soils and Pleistocene gravels. The age of the prairie soil is revealed by numerous remains of Bison and human artifacts. The age of the gravels is established by the remains of mammoth and camel. The bed of the river channel is Pormian sandstone and shale, covered with a thin layer of reworked sand and gravel. Some of the sand and gravel of the lower reaches of the river may have originated here. Within four miles, seepage and drainage form pools in the river bed that remain for long periods after rains, and some of these support fishes. East of the Rankine—Archer Oity Road (State Highway 25,) the river assumes the nature it maintains for most of the remainder of its length. The course is simious, between broad, low hills. Trend is northeastward parallel to the Big Wichita River, farther north. The river channel is a steep-banked, deepusunken, "ii-shaped" canyon, usually about 1&0 feet deep and less than lOO feet across. The canyon is cut into deep alluvirnn, washed from the surrounding hills. There is no evidence of terracing or meandering. The course of the river valley is marked by a thin line of elms and other broadu—leafed trees , but the sudden drop into the canyon is not seen until one is on the brink of the valley. The river remains a running stream through much of the year, though only after rains is there any considerable volume of water. Usually the water consists of a mere trickle connecting pools in the canyon floor. After a few months without rains, even the trickles cease. Some of the deeper pools seems to contain some water at all times. At least there are some pools that remained four to five feet deep through the past project year. In times of hoavy rains the valley becomes a torrent. The water may rise 3O feet in a few hours. No arroyos containing water, except immediately after rains, enter the river except near the town of Henrietta where a creek, which also serves as the effluent of the city sewage-treatment plant, enter the river. Between the town of Henrietta and the mouth of the river, the river changes. It hocomes broader and slower, sometimes with scarcely perceptible current. The valley is broader and banks low and muddy. The river bed is of soft silt and mud. At the mouth of the river, the currents of the Red River have built a bar of relatively firm sand in marked contrast to the muddy bottom of the Little Wichita. In these last few miles of 1+. the river's length, water is permanent although, when flewage ceases upstream, there is no current and water analyses indicate that waters of the Red River may actually back into the lower part of the Little Wichita River. The fish population of this part of the Little Wichita River is also derived directly from the Red River. DECRIPTIUN GFSAHE’LE STATIONS FULDA.SThTTOh. - This station is located on the headwaters of the Little Wichita River, directly south of the Railroad Station of Fulda in Baylor County. The river is intermittent. In times of high water, but not flood, a moderate current is pre- sent in water four to five feet deep in a narrow and vertical-banked channel. Usually the river consists only of a series of unconnected pools from four to five feet deep, at deepest, separated by a few to a hundred yards of firm sand and gravel. 1When several weeks have passed without rains, the smaller pools dry up, but even at extreme drought during the project period, some wear was found in the largest and deepest pools. The river banks are packed gravel overlaid by floodplain silt. Broad—leafed trees , briars and rather dense vegetation form a narrow belt along the river. Water quality is good. Turbidity is quite high, even in the still pools in the river bed. Fish, almost all of small size, are numerous in the peels in the river bed where concentrated by receding water. Fish collections were obtained by seining. KICKAPOO STaTIOH. - 0f the stations on the upper parts of the river, Kickapoo Station aloae supports large fishes. The station is located where the river enters Lale Kickapoo, and during the course of the project year, Lake Kickapoo was at a relatively high to very high level. The station is located in front of a rocky bluff which turns the river and forms a constriction that may be considered the point where the river ends and lake begins. The land on the side of the river opposite the bluff is low, flat and muddy, overgrown.with drowned salt-cedar'brush. Ordinarily the river is placid here, with scarcely perceptible current. After rains the current is strong and large trees and stumps are carried downstream, to remain along the shore as drift— wood or to sink in the calmer waters of the lake and form deadheads. The water is customarily quite turbid and brownish with suspended silt. Fish collections were obtained with gill nets and by seining. AREEER STATION. - 0n the map a considerable distance separates druher Station from Kickapoo Station, but it must be remembered that much of this distance is covered by Lake Kickapoo (already reported, FTBl, Job s—a) and part of the remainder, below the Lake Kickapoo dam, is almost always dry. The Station is situated where the bridge on State Highway 79 crosses the river Just north of Archer City. The river is intermittent at this station.but never in our experience is it dry. Usually there are peels connected with narrow trickles of running water, and some of the pools are air feet er'more in depth. The river flows in a deep, muddy, “V-shaped" canyon. The stream bed is gravel and, in deeper places, silt. Vegetation is rather dense and a broad band of wooded land fringes the river. Water is usually turbid but sometimes rather clear, especially in winter. Fishes are small. Collections were made with seines or, when conditions were optimal, rotenone. 300W STATIOH. - Scotland Station is located in Archer County just north of the town of Scotland, where the river is crossed by the bridge on Highway U. S. 231. Conditions are in.most respects very similar to these at Archer Station, principal differenee being the deeper valley and presence of salt water pollution sites in the vicinity.. Fish collections were-usually taken by seining but on a few occasions by the use of rotenone. 5. HENRIETTA. - Conditions at Henrietta Station are distinctly more humid than farther upstream. The station is located just west of the town of Henrietta, in Clay County, where the river is crossed by the bridge on Highway U. 8. 82-287. The valley is "v—shaped" but not as deep as at Scotland Station, noreis it as broad. fisually there is a current here, but on several occasions the river consisted of only a series of disconnected pools in the river bed. The bottom was uniformly'muddy, gravel occurring only in riffles, and the water turbid and brownish with silt. Host fish collections were taken with seines but some rather complete collections were obtained with the use of rotenone. Henrietta Creek, the sewage effluent of the town of Henrietta, enters the river a few miles downstream from Henrietta Station. The creek was checked. The sewage is treated and the water quality of the effluent is good. The creek is broad and sluggish. European carp and gissard shad were noted in the creek but a complete collection was not made. HIVERMUUTH STATION. — This station is located Just above the point where the Little'Wichita River enters the Red River. Gill nets were set in the stiller waters upstream.from the sand bar that marks Junction of the two rivers but seining was confined to the bar itself. The river is broad and still here, with a bottom of mud so soft and deep that we found it impossible to seine. Streamside vegetation includes dense growths of willows and salt cedars . The more swiftly flowing Red River has built a sandbar at the mouth of the Little Wichita, and waters of the Red Riverswirl into and contaminate the non—saline waters of the Texas stream. The high quantity of dissolved solids of the Red River change the water quality of the mouth of the Little Wichita enormously, decrease its turbidity, and the fishes present are typical of the Red River rather than the Little Wichita River. Table l. Volume of water in the Little Wichita River at.Aroher Station. Period _ Mean Discharge (cubic ft. /sec.) Total anoff (acre feet) Average annual, 1932—55 8£.6 59800 for year 1955 Bad 63980 January. 1955 7-13 ' #33 February, 1955 17.0 91:3 March, 1955 9.85 606 April, 1955 21:..1 less Her. 1955 33-5 5130 June, 1955 110.0 6570 July, 1955 251+ 156 August, 1955 .26 16 September,.1955 512.0 30h60 October, 1955 297p 18230 November, 1955 dry -_ December, 1955 dry -- 6. Table 2. Physical sensitised at the Sample Stations. “mm—mm Date Air Tamp. water reap. Turbidity fire.) as W FULDA.STATIOH - - - 7.85 8/22/55 - - - 7.73 9/5/55 35 29 190 - 10/23/55 33 28 165 7.6 11/8/55 21 10 155 7.3 12/13/55 9 8 300 plus 8.25 1/10/56 6 5 275 7.65 2/16/56 5 8 180 7.35 3/1/56 21 16 26b 7.85 11/6/56 25 21 75 5/6/56 36 27 3o KICKAPOG STATIOH 7/26/55 33 25 100 7.70 5/23/55 30 29 105 7.55 5/15/55 26 27 155 - 10/9/55 23 22 160 7.h 10/16/55 19 20 90 7.8 11/12/55 is 12 2&5 7.6 12/5/55 2 9 290 3-12 2/21/56 17 11 100 8.03 t/5/56 22 20 155 8.0 5/15/56 23 22 do - ARCER STATIOH 7/11/55 - - - 7.70 7/28/55 - - — 7.65 8/23/55 - - — 7.55 9/3/55 39 27 110 - 10/13/55 28 21 70 7.7 11/9/55 la 10 50 7.6 12/23/55 6 7 230 7.60 1/20/56 0 t 120 7.75 2/5/56 8 5 150 8.15 3/8/56 27 16 3to 7.65 e/15/56 19 17 185 - 5/3/56 37 30 50 - SQOTLAHD STATIOH 7/11/55 - — - 7.55 7/23/55 - - - 7.60 8/23/55 - — - 7.50 5/8/55 33 25 155 - 10/13/55 25 22 85 7.5 11/7 55 18 12 750 7.6 12/2 /55 16 u 775 7.8% 1/22/56 1 a 100 7.72 2/9/56 8 6 110 8.0 3/5/56 26 16 350 7.70 t/12/56 2h 20 210 - 5/9/56 38 29 65 Table 2. (Continued) 7/12/55 7/27/55 8/23/55 5/7/55 10/19/55 11/23/55 12/9/55 All temperatures are Centigrade. Air Temp. water Temp. Turbidity 0mm.) 52 — - 3-35 - - 7-75 - - 7.66 23 T5 - 22 65 7.7 13 70 7-3 h 725 7.55 t 70 9 . 220 7-75 12 280 7.78 19 160 - 29 65 arvsssesrs ardrIcs - - 7.50 28 1t5 7.t5 29 260 7.28 28 260 7.55 18 105 7.t 13 #00 7.5 6 600 7.82 5 195 T-TD 9 #05 7.20 20 250 - 16 200 25 35 23 75 Turbidity is Seishi disk readings in millimeters. pH was determined with a Beckman pH meter. B. Table 3. 01121211221 Nature of the Water at the Sample Stations. Date Usloium. Sodium Chloride Sulfate Carbonates Total 331122 22222 2222202 7/12/55 36 19 22 — 139 206 8/22/55 36 2 9 — 128 170 5/5/55 38 22 33 - 195 238 10/22/55 39 6 9 31 69 199 11/10/55 98 7 11 20 122 208 12/10/55 56 6 9 6 165 291 1/10/56 98 90 39 0 165 287 2/16/56 86 118 195 0 213 612 3/1/56 69 10 8 209 177 969 9/29/56 116 18 17 30 336 517 5/6/56 99 9 12 20 113 198 21022200 2222202 7/26/55 99 21 12 - 162 239 8/22/55 56 12 18 — 168 259 9/29/55 99 11 17 - 162 239 10/9/55 38 18 29 - 125 210 10/16/55 28 16 9 - 110 153 11/12/55 38 8 12 - 137 195 12/9/55 56 9 19 29 137 290 12/29/55 66 12 18 63 135 293 2/20/56 90 21 19 0 199 229 3/29/56 99 21 10 12 198 235 9/9 56 50 23 20 17 199 259 5/1 /56 96 13 12 35 127 238 220222 2222102 7/11/55 59 89 131 - 202 971 7/28/55 52 122 188 22 119 503 8/23/55 98 19 31 - 181 275 9/8/55 99 26 90 - 216 326 10/13/55 38 12 18 — 128 196 11/9/55 92 12 18 1 296 318 12/22/55 100 66 101 58 232 557 1/20/56 58 92 33 0 170 303 8/9/56 72 62 85 31 198 998 3/9/56 190 319 763 - 110 1382 9/21/56 332 983 1159 110 162 2296 5/8/56 59 92 67 90 109 312 20022220 2222102 7/11/55 58 99 67 - 179 331 7/28/55 56 199 231 32 116 521 8/23/55 92 76 119 — 199 386 9/3/55 132 956 780 132 156 1837 22612 3. (062112226). Date Calcium. Sodium. Chloride Sulfate Carbonates 10/13/55 38 16 25 — 131 210 11/9 55 86 168 255 72 157 759 12/2 /55 116 222 393 121 196 1000 1/22/56 90 36 36 0 196 258 2/5/56 96 39 96 0 180 311 3/5/56 239 509 1118 - 122 1978 9/11/56 370 719 1988 299 153 2969 5/5/56 52 97 80 35 109 318 222212222 3222202 7/11/55 96 25 39 90 86 236 7/83/55 98 117 181 29 109 979 6/23/55 68 152 238 38 139 635 9/9/ 55 30 3 9 29 61 122 10/13/55 38 15 29 — 128 205 11/29/55 78 93 67 90 189 912 12/26/55 82 93 66 38 201 930 1/12/56 52 36 29 38 159 309 2/16/59 79 96 78 23 186 907 3/3/56 58 98 59 3 189 357 9/10/56 90 69 79 61 232 521 5/12/56 99 38 61 21 109 368 2122226622 6222202 7/12/55 252 518 793 992 132 2179 7/28/55 58 85 131 60 92 926 6/23/55 162 396 612 303 97 1576 9/7/55 299 586 905 975 122 2332 10/19/55 69 7 11 101 68 251 11/23/55 368 777 1199 686 226 3298 12/8/55 929 771 1199 636 238 3953 1/12/56 392 230 593 296 395 2856 2/15/56 392 1050 1566 902 193 9053 3/38/56 298 1173 1690 765 198 9160 8/18/56 530 918 1591 876 183 9090 5/13/56 86 33 57 27 110 276 5/17/56 36 28 91 29 83 212 Dashes indioate insignifioant amounts, not checked to exaot amounts but less than 5 ppm. Carbonates are almost entirely bioerbonates at prevailing pH, and include oarbon dioxide also. Total salts are totals of those listed. 10. QUALITY OF WATER OF THE LITTLE NICEITA RIVER Before the water-analyses listed in Tables II and III can be interpreted, certain considerations must be taken into account. Water samples were taken in pools in the intermittent parts of the river. In dry periods the water in the pools evaporated, concentrating the solids. In these same parts of the river a rain, even a local thundershower, is sufficient to dilute these solids greatly. The wide fluctuations in the readings at Fulda Station in.Tahle III are the result of such concentration and dilution. 0n the other hand, the river is constant and deep at Kickapoo Station, and the variation there-is slight. There are oil.wells with surface salt pits in the vicinity of Archer and Scotland Stations. Here, in periods of dry weather, sodium.chloride escapes to the river in underground flow and, when concentrated by evaporation in pools in the river bed, gives extremely'high readings for sodium and especially for chloride. Here, too, dilution by rainwater is swift and enough precipitation to wash the salts as far as Henrietta Station also dilutes them. Because there is more water in the river at Henrietta Station, under ordinary conditions, the variations in the chemical nature of the water is less there. At Rivermouth Station, water from the Red River backs into the Little Wichita River in times when the Little Wichita is low. Thus the mouth of the Little Wichita River often contains water adulterated with Red River water, and this accounts for the high salinities sometimes encountered there. However, in times of rain the Little Hichita River rises rapidly, flushing out the Red River water and often flowing remark- ably'pure. When these factors are understood, the water of the Little Wichita River may be described as: "of good quality,.mildly alkaline, quite turbid, and low in dissolved salts other than carbonates." If the oil-well brine pollution now existing is stopped, the waters of the proposed lake or'lakes should be very'similar-to the water of Lake Kickapoo. ANNOTATED CEEUKLIST OF SPECIES OF FISHES OF THE LITTLE WIUHITA.RIVER a Lepisostcus osseus. Longnosed Gar. This species is quite common near the mouth of the river, where the bulk of our specimens were taken, but we found it uncommon at Kickapoo Station. Rose was taken at any of the other stations. The longuosed gar does sometimes enter small streams and it is surprising that we found it only in deeper waters. Hear the mouth of the river this fish is sometimes a pest, stealing bait from fishermen's lines and rarel3r hoccming captured. Lepisosteus platostomu . Shortnosed Gar. Strangely enough, we took no shortnosed gars at Rivermouth Station, where longnosed gars were common. The species was uncommon, although the most numerous gar, at Kickapoo Station. Hone was taken at the other stations. ScaaniflEchus Eatomchus . Shovelnosod Sturgeon. We know of but a single sturgeon taken in.the Little Wichita River. This was caught by'a fisherman near the river mouth in 1953, and preserved for some time in the local high school. Dorosoma cepedianums Gissard Shad. This fish was recorded at all stations but was taken regularly only at'Kickapoo Station and Rivermouth Station, where the water was deep. 0219'small numbers of immature specimens were taken elsewhere. At the deeper- water stations, the shad is one of the most abundant fishes. Shad from the river average somewhat smaller than those from impoundments. The largest specimens caught weighed scarcely two pounds.