Trinidad Lake (Trinity River Basin)

Trinidad Lake, the smallest lake in the Trinity River Basin, is located about two miles south of Trinidad in southwestern Henderson County, on an unnamed slough as an off-channel reservoir. It is owned and operated by the TXU Generation Company LLP for condenser-cooling water for a steam-electric generating plant. Water right was granted by Permit No. 818 (Application No. 862) dated July 1, 1925 from the State Board of Water Engineers for construction of the dam and use of water from the Trinity River. Actual construction started and was completed in 1925. The dam is an earthfill embankment of 1,200 feet long with the top at an elevation 290 feet above mean sea level. The spillway is part of the levee, and is equipped with one tainter gate. In 1946 a frame 16 feet wide and 6 feet deep was constructed to discharge the water from the gate over the embankment for drainage into the river. The top of the gate is at an elevation of 287 feet above mean sea level. The reservoir is operated at a capacity of 6,200 acre-feet and a surface area of 690 acres at an elevation of 283 feet above mean sea level. There is no significant drainage area to contribute runoff to this off-channel reservoir. Water level is maintained by pumping from the river.