Lake Livingston
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| Lake Livingston | |
|---|---|
| Location | Polk, San Jacinto, Trinity and Walker Counties, Texas (USA) |
| Coordinates | |
| Lake type | artificial lake |
| Primary sources | Trinity River |
| Primary outflows | Trinity River |
| Catchment area | 16,616 square miles (43,035 km²)[1] |
| Max length | 31 miles (50 km) |
| Max width | 9 miles (14 km) |
| Surface area | 336 km² |
| Average depth | 23 feet (7 m) |
| Max depth | 90 feet (27 m) |
| Water volume | 1,750,000 acre-feet |
| Shore length1 | over 450 miles (720 km) |
| Surface elevation | 131 feet (40 m) |
| 1 Shore length is an imprecise measure which may not be standardized for this article. | |
Lake Livingston is a man-made reservoir located in the East Texas Piney Woods. Lake Livingston was built, is owned and is operated by the Trinity River Authority of Texas (TRA) under contract with the City of Houston for water supply purposes.[1] The lake is the largest lake constructed for water supply purposes located totally within the State of Texas. The Livingston Dam, constructed across the Trinity River approximately 7 miles (11 km) southwest of the city of Livingston is 2.5 miles (4 km) in length and has an average depth of 55 feet (17 m).[2]
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[edit] Construction
The lake construction was paid for by the sale of revenue bonds that were to be redeemed with income derived from the sale of water. The dam construction began in 1966 and was completed in 1969, by Forrest and Cotton, Incorporated. Cost to build the earthen dam was US$$83,996,957.
[edit] Use
Water stored in the lake is used to supply industrial, municipal and agricultural needs in the lower Trinity River Basin and the Houston/Galveston metropolitan area. Its significance in the face of the extraordinary growth experienced by this region of the Upper Texas Gulf Coast is tremendous.A wide range of public and commercial recreation facilities including full service marinas, camping and motel accommodations are located along the shoreline. The City of Houston owns two-thirds of the water rights of the lake, with the other 1/3 remaining under control of the TRA.
[edit] The Lake
The earthfill dam with a concrete spillway and was designed by Brown and Root, Incorporated. The dam has a spillway crest elevation of 99 feet (30 m) above mean sea level. The average base width of the Dam's earthen embankment is 310 feet (94 m) wide. The spillway is designed and constructed to pass flows of three times the maximum-recorded flow of the river at this site.[2]
Lake Livingston covers approximately 83,000 surface acres and impounds 1,750,000 acre-feet of water at its normal pool elevation of 131 feet (40 m) above mean sea level. (One acre-foot of water is equal to one foot of water covering one acre of land or 325,850 gallons.) The average depth of the lake is 23 feet (7 m) with a maximum depth of 90 feet (27 m). Lake Livingston has more than 450 miles (700 km) of shoreline extending into San Jacinto, Polk, Walker, and Trinity Counties.[2]
[edit] Flood Control
Lake Livingston was built with no flood control capabilities/flood storage capabilities, and because of this all water entering the lake wether it be from rainfall or inflow, must exit the lake as increase intake occurs. Flow through the damn is controled by 12 tainter gates in a concrete and steel spillway. Operations of the spillway mirror river flows, so within a relative short period of time of increase of river flow discharge is increased, and vice versa.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Handbook of Texas Online - Lake Livingston. Retrieved 5 February 2007.
- ^ a b c Trinity River Authority of Texas - Lake Livingston. Retrieved 5 February 2007.
