Inks Lake

Inks Lake is in the Texas Hill Country

Inks Lake is in the Texas Hill Country

Photo by Carol M. Highsmith for the Library of Congress, Public Domain
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Promotion: Nearby Map of Burnet County
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Inks Lake is on the Colorado River four miles below Buchanan Dam and ten miles west of Burnet in Burnet and Llano counties (at 30°44' N, 98°23' W). The project is owned and operated by the Lower Colorado River Authority as one of a series of six dams and reservoirs on the Colorado River. Construction on the Roy Inks Dam, a concrete gravity structure, was begun in 1936 and completed in 1938. Inks Lake has a capacity of 17,540 acre-feet and a surface area of 830 acres at a spillway crest elevation of 888.5 feet above mean sea level. This lake is considered a constant-level one because the normal turbine discharge is coordinated with the inflow from Lake Buchanan so that normal fluctuation is small. However, during periods of floods the lake level varies considerably. The power plant contains one 12,500-kilowatt generating unit with all auxiliary equipment. It is operated by remote control from the Buchanan Plant, and the output is coordinated with the discharge from that plant. The drainage area is 31,290 square miles, of which 11,900 square miles is probably noncontributing. Some residential development has occurred along the lake shore, but a considerable portion of the Burnet County side of the lake is occupied by Inks Lake State Park.

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Seth D. Breeding | © TSHA

Handbook of Texas Logo

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.

Belongs to

Inks Lake is part of or belongs to the following places:

Lake Measurements

  • Surface Area (in acres): 757
  • Storage Capacity (in acre-feet): 13,962

Lake Maintained or Owned by

LCRA

Date of Origin

1938 (86 years ago)

Currently Exists

Yes

Place type

Inks Lake is classified as a Lake

Purposes

  • Power generation
  • Municipal water supply
  • Irrigation
  • Mining