Max Starke Dam was built between 1949 and 1951 to create hydro-electric power for the cities served by the Lower Colorado River Authority. Photo credits for the 1950 and 1951 construction photos belong to the LCRA, as does the aerial photo of the dam and powerhouse.
You can only view the dam (via land) from Max Starke Dam Road. Parking coordinates are N 30 33.275 W 098 15.401
LCRA is MUCH more than just a power company. They are intertwined in nearly every city in Central Texas and the Hill Country: (
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"LCRA plays a variety of roles in Central Texas: delivering electricity, managing the water supply and environment of the lower Colorado River basin, providing public recreation areas, and supporting community and economic development.
LCRA is the primary wholesale provider of reliable, competitively priced electricity in Central Texas. It's been that way since 1937.
By supplying wholesale power to 42 city-owned utilities and electric cooperatives and one former co-op, LCRA serves more than 1.1 million people in one of the nation's fastest growing regions, helping fuel the growth of rural communities, towns and cities.
LCRA also supplies electric transmission services through an affiliate, LCRA Transmission Services Corporation, which serves the traditional service territory and other areas within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region." [end]
More specific information on Max Starke dam can be found here: (
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"Smallest Highland Lakes dam
Starcke Dam and Lake Marble Falls
Ten floodgates now modernized
Starcke Dam, owned by LCRA, creates Lake Marble Falls.
Starcke Dam has the distinction of being the smallest in the Highland Lakes chain and the last one completed. The lake and dam were constructed from 1949 to 1951 for hydroelectricity. Originally named Marble Falls, the dam was renamed in 1962 for Max Starcke, LCRA's second general manager. He served from 1940 to 1955.
LCRA has replaced the dam's 50-year-old "bear trap" floodgates with hydraulic gates.
FYI on Max Starke Dam:
Location: Burnet County, 382 river miles from the Gulf of Mexico
Year built: 1949 to 1951
Dam dimensions:
98.8 feet high,
859.5 feet long
Primary purpose: Hydroelectric power
Generating capacity: 41.4 megawatts
Top of dam: 738 feet above msl
Floodgates: 10
Total discharge capacity: 109,200 cubic feet per second (cfs):
•10 floodgates @ 10,100 cfs each
•2 turbines @ 4,100 cfs each
Original name: Marble Falls Dam" [end]
From HydroWorld Magazine 29 Dec 2008: (
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Texas Authority expands capacity of 34-MW Max Starke
"The Lower Colorado River Authority reports it has added a total of 8.8 MW to its 34-MW Max Starcke Dam project on the Colorado River in Texas through a $24.9 million rehabilitation program.
LCRA said it boosted the capacity of each of two 17-MW units to 21.4 MW, an increase of nearly 26 percent. It declared the work substantially complete in August.
Contractors involved in the program included Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation, which designed and provided new stainless Kaplan turbine runners. National Electric Coil installed new generator windings.
The program also included mechanical overhauls, installation of new unit circuit breakers and transformers, rehabilitation of head gates, and modernization of protection and control systems.
LCRA staff performed labor for the turbine work and also completed a total electrical rehabilitation of the entire plant, including new switchgear and controls.
Max Starcke powerhouse began operation in 1951."