Lewisville Lake
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| Lewisville Lake | |
|---|---|
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| Aerial view of Lewisville Lake and Dam | |
| Location | North Texas |
| Coordinates | 33°6′3″N 96°57′50″W / 33.10083°N 96.96389°WCoordinates: 33°6′3″N 96°57′50″W / 33.10083°N 96.96389°W |
| Lake type | reservoir |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 29,592 acres (11,975 ha) |
| Max. depth | 67 ft (20 m) |
| Surface elevation | 522 ft (159 m) |
Lewisville Lake is a reservoir located in North Texas (USA) on the Elm Fork of the Trinity River in Denton County near Lewisville. The lake is primarily used recreationally for boating and watercraft, however, it was built for flood control purposes and to serve as a water source for Dallas and its suburbs.
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[edit] History
Lewisville Lake is the second lake to impound the waters of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River in this area. The first lake, Lake Dallas, was constructed in the 1920s by the W.E. Callahan construction Company for the City of Dallas at a cost of $3 million. The dam, completed in 1927, was built near the village of Garza and named the Garza Dam. This dam was 10,890 feet (3,320 m) long with a 567-foot (173 m) long service spillway. Lake Dallas, with its 194,000-acre-foot (239,000,000 m3) capacity and forty-three miles of shoreline, served as the principal municipal water source for the city of Dallas for 31 years. [1]
In the 1940s, a need for increased water storage capacity and additional flood control became apparent. The United States Congress passed the River and Harbor Act of 1945 and called for additional construction in the Trinity River basin. The Corps began construction of a new lake in 1948 that would not only incorporate Lake Dallas, but also impound Hickory Creek to the West, and Stewart, Panther, Cottonwood, Doe Branch, and Little Elm Creeks to the East.
The 33,000-foot (10,000 m) long Lewisville Dam was completed in 1955 at a cost of $21 million, and the old Garza Dam at Lake Dallas was breached in 1957 creating the new lake, known then as Garza-Little Elm Reservoir. This new lake had one hundred eighty-three miles of shoreline and a 436,000-acre-foot (538,000,000 m3) capacity. [2]
The breaching of the Garza Dam and incorporation of Lake Dallas into the Garza-Little Elm reservoir led to confusion concerning the lake's legal name. This was compounded by the Village of Garza renaming itself the City of Lake Dallas. The federal government attempted to rename the lake as Lewisville Reservoir in 1960 only to reverse itself in 1961. The confusion persisted until the mid-1970s when the lake was officially designated Lewisville Lake. [3]
[edit] About
It is generally murky with extremely low visibility. The water by the dam is clear with a visibility of 2 to 3 feet (~1 m).
The lake has many facilities for overnight camping and fishing—the black bass lake record was broken three times in 2006.
In 1991, the City of Denton installed a hydropower facility at Lewisville Dam. The single horizontal S-Shaped Kaplan unit is capable of producing 2893 kilowatts, and is connected to the grid via the Brazos River Distribution Authority.
[edit] Statistics
- Shoreline length: 183 miles (295 km)
- Date impounded: 1954
- Conservation pool elevation: 522 feet (159 m) msl
- Flood pool elevation: 532 feet (162 m) msl
- Top of Dam elevation: 537 feet (164 m)
- Operated by: United States Army Corps of Engineers
[edit] Recreation
The lake is very close to a large population base in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, so during the summer months, the lake can become extremely crowded. For a number of years Lewisville Lake was ranked the most dangerous lake in Texas due to the number of accidents and fatalities which occurred. Most of the fatalities are from individuals enjoying the day at the many parks around the lake and going too far out in the water. The number of actual boating accidents on the lake is fairly low. Adding to the danger for boats and other recreational watercraft, the lake contains numerous shallow areas with exposed and submerged trunks and other water hazards. Other recreation around the lake also includes a few areas for public hunting of water fowl and feral hogs (archery only).
On the lake, there are five marinas: Eagle Point Marina, Pier 121, Cottonwood Creek Marina, Dallas Cornthian Yacht Club, and Lakeview Marina, and two restaurant/bars: Sneaky Pete's and Charlie's. Charlie's has a nice outdoor patio on the water but the service can be an issue along with long delays on food orders (small Kitchen). In addition, Charlie's is more of a seasonal place, closed from January thru early March.
Party Cove located in near the old dam is home to the weekend revelers.
In 2005 Lake Lewisville hosted its first large scale bass tournament, The Bassmasters' Elite 50, Kevin VanDam took home 1st place and a check for $100,000. He also caught, at the time, the lake record bass at 11 pounds 13 ounces (5.4 kg).[4] The Woman's Bassmaster Tour's inaugural event was held in October 2005. The Tour returned in May 2006[5] and again in April 2008, with angler Kim Bain winning, taking home $51,000 in cash and prizes.[6]
[edit] Transportation
Three bridges currently cross the lake. The main bridge is on Interstate 35E, which crosses the lake on its western finger and is a notorious traffic bottleneck during rush hour. The other current bridge is on the eastern finger of the Lake through Little Elm, connecting two halves of Farm to Market Road 720, locally known as Eldorado Parkway. In addition, US 380 crosses the extreme northern end, requiring a short bridge.
The Lewisville Lake Toll Bridge, opened on August 1st, 2009, is a NTTA toll bridge connecting Little Elm via Eldorado Parkway and Interstate 35E near Swisher Road. It generally follows the route of the original Garza Dam.
Highland Village/Lewisville Lake Station will be a future rail stop on the DCTA A-train scheduled to open in December 2010. It will connect downtown Denton with DART's Green Line in Carrollton.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Texas Handbook Online
- ^ Army Corps of Engineers
- ^ Town Mall
- ^ "Kevin VanDam Wins Lewisville and Breaks Lake Record". http://www.nitro.com. http://www.nitro.com/pressroom/227-Kevin-VanDam-Wins-Lewisville-and-Breaks-Lake-Record.cfm.
- ^ "WBT returns to Lewisville". bassmaster.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/wbt/news/story?page=tourn_06_WBT_TX_Lewisville_Lake_practice.
- ^ "[http://proxy.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/members/insider/bmmarchive/column?page=b_col_WBT_Lewisville_Lake_070808 Bassmaster WBT: Lewisville Lake]". bassmaster.com. http://proxy.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/members/insider/bmmarchive/column?page=b_col_WBT_Lewisville_Lake_070808.
[edit] External links
History
