The Reservoir Site
Building Bois d’Arc Lake:
The lake’s dam is about two miles long and 90 feet tall. The lake itself will be 16,641 surface acres when totally filled, or approximately 26 square miles in size, and will provide a firm yield of 82 million gallons per day (MGD). In addition to the dam, a number of other structures are being built to collect and carry water from the lake to homes and businesses across North Texas.
Reservoir Site Project Status:
Impoundment, or capturing, of water began on April 14, 2021. It could take 24 months or longer to fill the reservoir. The lake dam will be substantially completed in 2022, and the District expects to begin delivering water in spring of 2023.
Construction activities on the dam and reservoir began in May 2018, and since then have included:
- Creating an earthen dam to block the flow of water from several creeks that flow into the reservoir, including Bois d’Arc Creek and Honey Grove Creek.
- Clearing trees in the reservoir area and grass/topsoil at the dam’s foundation before construction on the earthen dam began.
- Digging up nearby soil to create the dam
- Applying soil cement to prevent erosion on the lake-facing side of the dam and to the spillway’s outlet channel to Bois d’Arc Creek.
In order to collect and pump out water from the lake, several other structures were also built at the reservoir site, including:
- A 110-ft. tall concrete intake tower, to collect water from the lake for transfer and treatment.
- A raw water pump station, to pump water out of the reservoir and carry it through 35 miles of pipeline to the new Leonard Water Treatment Plant.
- A 3,800 ft. long spillway to release overflow from the lake back into Bois d’Arc Creek.
Photos of Work on the Bois d'Arc Lake Reservoir:
