Pinkston Lake (Neches River Basin)

Pinkston Lake and Pinkston Dam (aka, Sandy Creek Reservoir) are located about ten miles west of Center off State Highway 7 in Shelby County, on Sandy Creek, a 4th order tributary of Neches River (Sandy Creek - West Creek - Attoyac Bayou - Angelina River - Neches River).  The Lake and the Dam are owned and operated by the City of Center for municipal water supply and recreation.  Permission for the Lake and Dam from the State of Texas was granted on February 7, 1972 and construction of the earthfill dam began in 1976.  The reservoir was completed in approximately 1977.  Deliberate impoundment started in 1976. The lake has a storage capacity of 7,380 acre-feet, encompassing a surface area of 523 acres, at its conservation pool elevation 298 feet above mean sea level.