Houston County Lake (Trinity River Basin)
Houston County Lake (formerly Little Elkhart Creek Dam) is located about ten miles northwest of Crockett in Houston County, on Little Elkhart Creek, a tributary of the Trinity River. Houston County Water Control and Improvement District No.1 (Houston County WCID No. l) owns the water rights to Houston County Lake and operates and maintains the associated Houston County Dam.
The dam was authorized by Permit No. 2160 (Application No. 2380) on May 10, 1965 by the Texas Water Commission. Construction of the dam started on April 14, 1966 and was completed in December 1966. Deliberate impoundment of water began on November 4, 1966. Houston County Lake Dam and appurtenant structures consist of a rolled-earth embankment 1,250 feet in length, with a maximum height of 63 feet and a crest elevation of 277.0 feet above mean sea level. The service spillway is a concrete morning glory type drop inlet with a seven feet by seven feet conduit. The crest elevation is 260.0 feet above mean sea level. There is a valve-controlled one and one-half feet diameter low-flow outlet with an invert elevation of 234.0 feet above mean sea level. The emergency spillway is an uncontrolled excavated channel located at the right (north) end of the embankment. The 500 feet wide crest is at elevation 265.0 feet above mean sea level. According to the TWDB 1999 volumetric survey, at the conservation pool elevation of 260 feet above mean sea level, the lake has a capacity of approximately 17,113 acre feet and 1,330 acres surface area. Records indicate the drainage area is approximately 44 square miles.