The lake is operated and maintained by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation. The climate of the basin is characterized by moderate to low precipitation, relatively high wind velocity, fairly rapid rates of evaporation, a wide range of temperatures and abrupt, sometimes violent changes in weather. Average annual precipitation amount varies from 17 inches in the west to 22 inches in the east. The average annual runoff varies from about 0.2 inches in the west to 1.1 inches in the east. The economy of the basin is very dependent on agriculture.
Crops grown include wheat, corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, forage sorghum and alfalfa.
Livestock production is an important phase of the area agriculture. Beef cattle are the predominant livestock production in the basin. Irrigation is widespread and extremely important to the area's economics. About 20 percent of the cropland area is irrigated. All or parts of six of the county in the basin are covered by Northwest Kansas Groundwater Management District No. 4.