|
|
| This
was one full dam. You can see that the water is within a couple of
feet of spilling out on its own. Floodgates were open and you could
see a sort of deadly-looking whirlpool over near the face of the dam
where the water was being sucked out. Wirtz Dam forms Lake
LBJ, which is a respectable 6,534 acres when full. Interestingly,
both the dam and lake were originally named "Granite Shoals," but
the dam was renamed in 1952 for Alvin J. Wirtz, who was the first
general counsel of the LCRA and helped to get the federal grants that
formed the initial LCRA. The lake was renamed after the president
in 1965. The dam was also built primarily for hydroelectric generation
and produces 56 megawatts when going full out. |
 |
The shoreline
of Lake LBJ is made up of granite gravel. I don't know if this formed
naturally, or if they intentionally created a beach out of the stuff.
At least they used local materials. Lake LBJ is also home to a large,
exclusive resort: Horseshoe
Bay. This is a lovely resort area, with some nice golf courses
– or so I'm told. The lake also produces cooling water for a nearby
power plant, but I couldn't find any details about that. I found the
plant here on Google Maps, but it isn't named. It looks like a natural
gas plant, but I only say that because of the storage tanks nearby
and the lack of railroad for coal delivery.
Copyright
Rob
Hafernik |
Lake
LBJ Contact Information
Lower
Colorado River Authority
3700 Lake Austin Blvd.
Austin, Texas 78703
512-473-3200
800-776-5272 |
Flora
& Fauna of Lake LBJ
Photos
courtesy Ernie
Wymer, April 2007 |
|
|
