Jetmore ? Sitting in his office where glass windows overlook grocery aisles, Mark Wellbrock says he has already seen a small impact from the out-of-county visitors heading to Hodgeman County’s new lake.

Worm sales are up more than 40 percent, he said.

“Without a shadow of a doubt, it’s because of the reservoir,” the Jetmore Food Center owner said with a grin, noting he already has added coolers, barbecue grills and propane bottles to his inventory in hopes of seeing more business from the throng of folks heading to Kansas’ newest lake.

More than 8,000 people have visited Hodgeman County’s HorseThief Reservoir since it opened June 26. And residents are hoping the influx of people will offer an economic impact to a county of 2,000 people.

Wellbrock isn’t the only one preparing for the multitudes. Curtis Rasmussen, who owns Carquest and R & R Supply, said he plans to add marine parts to his offerings, and a mechanic is selling a few watercraft in his front lawn and has had requests for boat batteries.

Another entrepreneur may provide storage for boats and Jet Skis, said Lea Ann Seiler, director of Hodgeman County Economic Development.

“They’re buying ice, pop and beer at the grocery, they’re getting fuel,” she said.

Some out-of-town guests are even frequenting a few of the city’s restaurants.

“It’s been great for Hodgeman,” she said.

Larry Steinbring leaned against the counter between helping customers at Jetmore Lumber Co. There really hadn’t been much for water recreation in western Kansas before this, he said.

With a semiarid landscape, there are no other reservoirs in southwest Kansas and many small lakes are dry. Even the mighty Arkansas River hasn’t flowed in years.

The Pawnee is the largest watershed district in the U.S., containing more than 1.5 million acres in parts of nine southwest Kansas counties — Edwards, Finney, Ford, Gray, Hodgeman, Lane, Ness, Pawnee and Rush. When the district formed in 1968, a plan was formulated for the district that included several dams. A lake at HorseThief’s present site has been part of the discussion since at least the early 1970s.

However, it wasn’t until 2005 the idea was to become a reality, when voters in Ford, Finney, Hodgeman and Gray counties, all in the HorseThief Benefit District, agreed to a sales tax to help pay for a portion of the $21 million project.

That’s a minimal cost when it comes to the 450-acre reservoir’s economic potential, Wellbrock said.

Seiler said Hodgeman County residents are also purchasing Jet Skis and other watercraft. Her family invested in a wind surfer. That means other needs are popping up, such as life jackets and, for a predominantly treeless reservoir, umbrellas.

There’s an upbeat mood in the small town these days — a town that, a decade ago, was on the same path as some other rural communities — motionless, he says.

“We needed this,” Steinbring said. “It’s getting traffic into town.”