Inks Lake is a great place to camp and hike in Llano county.
Inks Lake backs up behind Inks Dam, a low concrete dam with a small power plant. Inks Dam was built in 1936. It has no floodgates, only an uncontrolled spillway. Blasterz were at Inks Lake in 2007, when floodwaters were overtopping the dam.
From the LCRA website: (
visit link)
"LCRA dams form the Highland Lakes
Structures designed for flood management, water supply, hydroelectricity
LCRA operates six dams on the lower Colorado River in Central Texas: Buchanan, Inks, Wirtz, Starcke, Mansfield and Tom Miller. These dams form the six Highland Lakes: Buchanan, Inks, LBJ, Marble Falls, Travis and Austin.
Flood management
Each of the dams was built to manage floods, but Mansfield Dam, which forms Lake Travis, is the only one designed to hold back floodwaters.
. . .
Electricity
The dams in the Highland Lakes chain have hydroelectric generation stations that contribute to the Central Texas energy supply. Together, the hydroelectric plants at the dams can provide more than 295 megawatts of electricity per year.
Hydroelectricity was once the major source of power for LCRA's electric service area, but hydroelectric generation now is primarily a byproduct of other river operations. Water is moved through hydroelectric generation solely to create power at the request of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas during a power emergency.
From the Inks Dam page: (
visit link)
"Inks Dam and Inks Lake
Small dam creates 777-acre lake, has no floodgates
No floodgates
?
Before Buchanan Dam was completed, LCRA began work three miles downstream on this smaller dam so the two could work in tandem.
Inks Dam, constructed from 1936 to 1938, has no floodgates, and the power plant is the smallest in the Highland Lakes chain. A small amount of water can be released through hydroelectric generation, but the bulk of floodwaters pass over an uncontrolled spillway.
The lake and dam are named for Roy B. Inks, one of the original directors on the LCRA Board.
FYI: Inks Dam
Location: Llano County, 409 river miles from the Gulf of Mexico
When built: 1936 to 1938
Dam dimensions: 96.5 feet high, 1,547.5 feet long
Primary purpose: Hydroelectric power
Generating capacity: 13.8 megawatts
Spillway elevation: 888.3 feet above msl
Top of dam: 922 feet above msl
Floodgates: None
Discharge capacity: 3,400 cubic feet per second (cfs):
1 turbine @ 3,400 cfs
Original name: Arnold Dam
Details on Inks Lake
Lake area: 777 acres
Elevation when full: 888 feet above mean sea level (msl)
Volume when full: 13,668 acre-feet
Historic high: 902.8 feet above msl on July 25, 1938
Historic low: 877.1 feet above msl on Dec. 6, 1983
Target operating range: 886.9 feet to 887.7 feet above msl
100-year flood level at dam: 901.7 feet above msl
Dimensions: 4.2 miles long, 3,000 feet at widest point"