East Fork Above Lavon Ws Scs Site 20 Dam

About East Fork Above Lavon Ws Scs Site 20 Dam

The primary purpose of East Fork Above Lavon Ws Scs Site 20 Dam is flood risk reduction. The dam is designed to control downstream flooding by temporarily storing excess water during storms and releasing it at a controlled rate. The dam is owned by Grayson County;upper Elm Red Swcd (local government). It impounds the Tr-east Fork Trinity River.

The dam stands 36 feet tall and stretches 1,115 feet across, creates a reservoir covering 13 acres, has a maximum storage capacity of 626 acre-feet, and collects water from a drainage area of 1 square miles. Completed in 1964, the structure is well into its service life at over 50 years old.

This dam carries a high hazard potential classification, which means that a failure or uncontrolled release of water would likely cause loss of human life. This classification reflects the consequences of failure, not the likelihood — it indicates that people live or work in the area downstream. An emergency action plan is in place for this dam. The most recent inspection on record was 05/23/2017. That was 8 years ago, which is on the longer end for a high-hazard structure.

At 36 feet, this dam is taller than 83% of dams nationwide.

Living Downstream

If you live or work downstream of this dam, consider taking these steps: learn your local evacuation routes, check whether your county emergency management office has a dam failure inundation map, and sign up for local emergency alerts. The Texas dam safety program can provide more specific information about emergency planning for this structure.

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