Lake Marble Falls | |
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Location | Burnet County, near the town of Marble Falls, Texas |
Coordinates | 30°33.40′N98°15.38′W / 30.55667°N 98.25633°W |
Lake type | Hydroelectric reservoir |
Primary inflows | Colorado River |
Primary outflows | Colorado River |
Basin countries | United States |
Surface area | 611 acres (247 ha) |
Max. depth | 60 ft (18 m) |
Surface elevation | 738 ft (225 m) above sea level |
Lake Marble Falls is a reservoir on the Colorado River in the Texas Hill Country in the United States. The reservoir was formed in 1951 by the construction of Max Starcke Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority. Originally named Marble Falls Dam, the dam was renamed in 1962 for Max Starcke, the second general director of the LCRA. Located near the city of Marble Falls, the lake is used as a venue for aquatic recreation and for the purpose of generating hydroelectric power. It is the newest and smallest of the Texas Highland Lakes.
The other reservoirs on the Colorado River are Lake Buchanan, Inks Lake, Lake LBJ, Lake Travis, Lake Austin, and Lady Bird Lake.
Unlike some of its immediate neighbors in the Texas Highland Lakes reservoir system, Lake Marble Falls is not infested with hydrilla, a non-native invasive plant from Asia thought to have been introduced to the U.S. via the tropical fish industry. Lake Marble Falls has been stocked with several species of native fish intended to improve the utility of the reservoir for recreational fishing. Fish present in Inks Lake include largemouth bass, catfish, and sunfish. Lake Marble Falls boasts being in the "top 50" as far as Record Stripers Striped Bass in the Texas freshwater fish records. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/programs/fishrecords/freshwater/top50_striped.phtml
Zebra mussels are an invasive species that are able to attach themselves to boats and can be spread through anthropogenic sources. Lake Marble Falls is one of two lakes in the San Gabriel River Basin that is found to have this infestation. [1]
Most of the property bordering Lake Marble Falls is privately owned. Fishing and boating are popular recreational activities, including the annual Lake Marble Falls Lakefest drag boat races.
The striped bass, also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has also been widely introduced into inland recreational fisheries across the United States. Striped bass found in the Gulf of Mexico are a separate strain referred to as Gulf Coast striped bass.
The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) is a nonprofit public utility created in November 1934 by the Texas Legislature. LCRA's mission is to enhance the lives of the Texans it serves through water stewardship, energy and community service. LCRA provides public power, manages the lower Colorado River, builds and operates transmission lines, owns public parks, and offers community services.
Lady Bird Lake is a river-like reservoir on the Colorado River in Austin, Texas, United States. The City of Austin created the reservoir in 1960 as a cooling pond for a new city power plant. The lake, which has a surface area of 416 acres (168 ha), is now used primarily for recreation and flood control. The reservoir is named in honor of former First Lady of the United States Lady Bird Johnson.
Lake Travis is a reservoir on the Colorado River in central Texas in the United States. It is named in honor of William B. Travis.
Lake Austin, formerly Lake McDonald, is a water reservoir on the Colorado River in Austin, Texas. The reservoir was formed in 1939 by the construction of Tom Miller Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority. Lake Austin is one of the seven Highland Lakes created by the LCRA, and is used for flood control, electrical power generation, and recreation.
The Texas Highland Lakes are a chain of fresh water reservoirs in Central Texas formed by dams on the lower Colorado River. The Texas Colorado River winds southeast from West Texas to Matagorda Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
Max Starcke Dam is a dam in the U.S. state of Texas. Starcke Dam impounds Lake Marble Falls, one of the Texas Highland Lakes. The dam was constructed in 1949–1951 in order to provide hydroelectric power. Located near Marble Falls, Texas, Starcke Dam was the last of the six Highland Lakes dams to be built.
Lake Lyndon B. Johnson is a reservoir on the Colorado River in the Texas Hill Country about 45 miles northwest of Austin. The reservoir was formed in 1950 by the construction of Granite Shoals Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA). The Colorado River and the Llano River meet in the northern portion of the lake at Kingsland.
Inks Lake is a reservoir on the Colorado River in the Texas Hill Country in the United States. The reservoir was formed in 1938 by the construction of Inks Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority. Located near Burnet, Texas, the lake serves to provide flood control in tandem with Lake Buchanan and features the smallest hydroelectric power plant on the Highland Lakes chain. Inks Lake was named for Roy B. Inks, one of the original board members of the Lower Colorado River Authority, and serves as a venue for outdoor recreation, including fishing, boating, swimming, camping, and picnicking.
Inks Dam was constructed from 1936 to 1938 and forms Inks Lake, one of the seven Texas Highland Lakes. The lake and dam are owned and operated by the Lower Colorado River Authority for hydropower generation and recreational purposes and are named for Roy B. Inks, one of the original members on the LCRA Board of Directors.
Lake Buchanan was formed by the construction of Buchanan Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority to provide a water supply for the region and to provide hydroelectric power. Buchanan Dam, a structure over 2 mi (3.2 km) in length, was completed in 1939. Lake Buchanan was the first of the Texas Highland Lakes to be formed, and with 22,333 acres of surface water, it is also the largest. The surface of the lake includes area in both Burnet and Llano Counties. The lake is west of the city of Burnet, Texas.
Somerville Lake is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoir on Yegua Creek in the Brazos River basin, 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Brenham, Texas, United States. The town of Somerville in Burleson County is adjacent to the reservoir. The lake extends into portions of Burleson County, Washington County, and Lee County. The dam lies in Washington County. The dam and lake are managed by the Fort Worth District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The reservoir was officially impounded in 1967, and serves to provide flood control and water for irrigation for the communities downstream. Somerville Lake is a popular recreational destination.
Amistad Reservoir is a reservoir on the Rio Grande at its confluence with the Devils River 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Del Rio, Texas. The lake is bounded by Val Verde County on the United States side of the international border and by the state of Coahuila on the Mexican side of the border; the American shoreline forms the Amistad National Recreation Area. The reservoir was formed in 1969 by the construction of Amistad Dam. The dam and lake are managed jointly by the governments of the United States and Mexico through the International Boundary and Water Commission. The name of the dam and lake is the Spanish word for "friendship". The reservoir is also known as Lake Amistad.
Inks Lake State Park is a state park located in Burnet County, Texas, United States, next to Inks Lake on the Colorado River. The landscape of the park is hilly, with many cedar, live oak, prickly pear cacti, and yuccas. The ground is rocky, mainly consisting of gneiss rock.
Lake Bastrop is a reservoir on Spicer Creek in the Colorado River basin 3 miles (5 km) northeast of the town of Bastrop in central Bastrop County, Texas, United States. The reservoir was formed in 1964 by the construction of a dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority. The lake serves primarily as a power plant cooling pond for the Sim Gideon Power Plant operated by the LCRA and the Lost Pines Power Project 1, owned by GenTex Power Corporation, a wholly owned affiliate of the LCRA. Lake Bastrop also serves as a venue for outdoor recreation, including fishing, boating, swimming, camping and picnicking, and is maintained at a constant level year round.
E.V. Spence Reservoir is an artificial lake located west of the town of Robert Lee, Texas. The reservoir was impounded by the creation of Robert Lee Dam in 1969, with the support of the Upper Colorado River Authority, to provide a reliable water supply for Robert Lee and the surrounding communities in Coke County. The lake also serves as a recreational venue for fishing, boating, and swimming. Robert Lee Dam is managed by the Colorado River Municipal Water District.
Piney Run Park is a nature park in Sykesville, located in Carroll County, Maryland. It is Carroll County's oldest developed park and hosts thousands of visitors annually. The park encompasses 550 acres of fields, forest and open spaces, features over 15 miles of hiking trails, a 300-acre lake and many sports and recreational facilities. Prior to being a park, this land was a private farm.
Maximillian Hugo "Max" Starcke was a businessman and then a government official in Texas for 37 years, first as Mayor of Seguin, Texas, from 1928 to 1938 and then as Managing Director of the Lower Colorado River Authority from 1940 to 1955.
Lake Athens is a 1,799 acre reservoir located to the east of Athens, Texas in Henderson County.