TEXAS, USA — The Lower Colorado River Authority, or LCRA, announced Thursday it had completed a more than 12-year, $51.1 million project to upgrade the floodgates at Buchanan Dam.
The LCRA said it took more than a decade because "the rehabilitation work was extensive and was performed on only a few of the dam’s 37 floodgates at a time to keep the dam capable of responding to flooding at all times."
“This is a remarkable dam and a remarkable project,” said Timothy Timmerman, chair of the LCRA Board of Directors. “The dam was completed in 1938 using technology and engineering standards of the day. Without changing the dam’s structure, we were able to upgrade the floodgates to meet today’s engineering standards, as well as make them able to respond to flooding more quickly.”
The project included strengthening each floodgate at the dam, as well as adding 30 stationary remote-operated hoists, which will enable the LCRA to open the floodgates more quickly.
The LCRA's utilization of the floodgates is critical during flooding events such as the October 2018 flooding event across the Hill Country.
“LCRA operates dams in the heart of Flash Flood Alley, and we take that responsibility very seriously,” said Phil Wilson, LCRA general manager. “We have to stay vigilant and ready to protect the water supply and respond to flooding at any time, and a significant part of that effort involves keeping our dams in excellent condition. We are fully committed to keeping our dams safe and reliable to continue serving the people of Texas.”
The completion of the Buchanan Dam project now steers the LCRA's attention toward conversations between it and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) about potentially allowing Lake Buchanan to rise to a level of 1,020 feet above mean sea level (feet msl) year-round. The current agreement allows lake levels to be maintained or kept below from May through October, and 1,020 feet msl the rest of the year.
The Buchanan Dam is the uppermost dam in the Highland Lakes.
The water flows through the dams in the following order:
- Buchanan Dam on Lake Buchanan
- Inks Dam on Inks Lake
- Wirtz Dam on Lake LBJ
- Starcke Dam on Lake Marble Falls
- Mansfield Dam on Lake Travis
- Tom Miller Dam on Lake Austin
The LCRA also completed a $10.8 million project to replace each of the floodgates at Tom Miller Dam in Austin back in October 2020.
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