Belton Lake (Brazos River Basin)
Belton Lake is located about three miles north of the City of Belton and approximately eight miles west of the City of Temple, on the Leon River, a tributary of the Little River, which is a tributary of the Brazos River. The Lake lies mainly in Bell County but extends into Coryell County on Cowhouse Creek and Leon River. The lake is owned by the U. S. Government and is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District for flood control, water supply, and recreational purposes. The lake was originally authorized by the Flood Control Act on July 24, 1946, which was further modified on September 3, 1954. Construction began in January 1949 and was completed in 1954. Deliberate impoundment began on March 8, 1954. A modification to raise the existing conservation pool 25 feet was completed in 1972. The dam was constructed of rolled earthfill embankment with a length of 5,524 feet long (including spillway and 418 foot dike), a maximum height of 192 feet above the streambed, and a top width of 30 feet at the elevation of 662 feet above mean sea level. According to TWDB 2003 survey, at the top of conservation pool, at an elevation of 594 feet above mean sea level, the lake covers 12,135 surface acres and stores 435,225 acre feet of water. Based on original survey information, at the top of the flood control pool (or crest of uncontrolled emergency spillway), with an elevation 631 feet above mean sea level, the lake would cover 23,620 acres and store 1,097,600 acre feet of water. The maximum design water surface may reach an elevation of 658.02 feet above mean sea level. The lake controls a drainage area of about 3,560 square miles.