The Livingston Lions Club went on field trip Wednesday and was provided the opportunity to tour the Lake Livingston Dam, courtesy of Lion Chad Holton, who serves as manager of the Lake Livingston Project.
Holton provided a brief history of the construction of the Lake Livingston Dam and showed pictures from the archives.
The largest single-purpose reservoir in Texas at 83,000 surface acres and 450 miles of shoreline, Lake Livingston was built in the 1960s and completed in 1971 as a water source for the City of Houston and surrounding communities through a contract between the Trinity River Authority (TRA) of Texas and the City of Houston. TRA financed and constructed the lake, along with Lake Livingston Dam, and continues to own and operate both.
Reviewing the costs associated with construction, Holton said the contract for construction was $16 million, the cost for the relocation of Hwy. 190 was $7 million, the cost for the relocation of five farm-to-market roads was $3 million, the cost for the relocation of utilities was $4 million and the cost to clear 40,000 acres was $2.5 million. Of course, these are all 1969 costs, he emphasized.
Holton said 700 parcels of land with 200 relocations was acquired and two cemeteries, with a total of 196 graves, were relocated. All of this for a total overall cost of $84 million, he said.
The dam, constructed across the Trinity River approximately seven miles southwest of Livingston, is 2.5 miles long and is the only dam on the main stem of the Trinity River. Lake Livingston has no flood control or flood storage capacity – flow through the dam is controlled by 12 tainter gates in a concrete and steel spillway. Operation of the spillway mirrors river behavior – as river flow increases, discharges will increase as well. Lake Livingston has a normal pool elevation of 131 feet above mean sea level and gate operations are designed to maintain that elevation when flood conditions are not occurring.
The lake was not designed for flood control and must let water pass through, or else the integrity of the dam may be compromised. Water runoff from northern areas like the DFW Metroplex flows into Lake Livingston, which can exacerbate problems if the Livingston region is already receiving a lot of rain.
TRA and the East Texas Electric Cooperative broke ground on May 27, 2015 on the R.C. Thomas Hydroelectric Project at the dam. The project, which was dedicated on Nov. 12, 2021, was developed in cooperation with TRA and the City of Houston. Hydroelectric power is generated using run-of-the-river flows and releases to meet downstream commitments through the dam. The level of the lake is not affected during operation of the project. The 24-megawatt plant will generate, on average, approximately 124 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. This is enough energy to serve approximately 12,000 households.
