LAKE TAWAKONI. Lake Tawakoni is on the Sabine River in Rains and Van Zandt counties, nine miles northeast of Wills Point. The lake, which extends into Hunt County, is impounded by Iron Bridge Dam, an earthfill dam with a concrete spillway constructed by Forrest and Cotton, engineers. The project is owned and operated by the Sabine River Authority. Dam construction began in January 1958 and was completed in December 1960. The lake has a capacity of 936,200 acre-feet and a surface area of 36,700 acres at the spillway crest elevation of 437.5 feet above mean sea level. The 200-mile-long shoreline is in Rains, Hunt, and Van Zandt counties. The water is used for municipal, industrial, and irrigation supplies. The drainage area above the dam is 756 square miles.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: C. L. Dowell, Dams and Reservoirs in Texas: History and Descriptive Information (Texas Water Commission Bulletin 6408 [Austin, 1964]).
