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LAKE FORK RESERVOIR.
Lake Fork Reservoir is on Lake Fork Creek in the Sabine River
basin five miles northwest of Quitman in Wood County (at 32°48'
N, 95°32' W). Though most of the reservoir is in northwestern
Wood County, it also inundates land in Rains and Hopkins counties.
The reservoir, owned by the Sabine River Authorityqv of Texas, was constructed to conserve water for municipal and
industrial use. The contractor was Holloway Construction Company
of Wixom, Michigan. Construction was funded through an agreement
with Texas Utilities Generating Company, Incorporated, and it
and the cities of Longview and Dallas contracted to buy water
from the reservoir. The rolled earthfill dam is about 12,410 feet
long. The reservoir's storage capacity at the conservation pool
level of 403 feet above mean sea level is 675,819 acre-feet, and
at that level the conservation surface area is 27,690 acres. The
drainage area for the dam is about 493 square miles. Initial engineering
studies for the dam began in the fall of 1972, and actual construction
began in the fall of 1975. Final closure of the dam occurred in
February 1980, and the conservation pool was reached in December
1985. The reservoir is a popular center for recreation, particularly
fishing. In 1978 the Texas Parks and Wildlife Departmentqv began stocking the reservoir with Florida largemouth bass, and
in 1986 a largemouth bass caught at the reservoir set a new state
record at seventeen pounds and 10.7 ounces.
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Copyright ©, The Texas State Historical Association, 1997-2002 |