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Grapevine Lake Information

Grapevine Lake Basic Facts:

Grapevine Lake is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District. Many facilities have been leased out to cities and commercial concessions; however, the Corps maintains oversight of all government-owned lands surrounding the lakes. Grapevine Lake was built for the purposes of flood control and conservation; it has become a premier recreation destination for the Metroplex and beyond.

Grapevine Lake Dam:

The dam is 12,850 feet long and consists of a compacted earth embankment and a spillway. It has a maximum height of 137 feet above the stream bed.

Flood Control:

The lake provides 238,250 acre-feet of storage capacity for flood control purposes. It protects Dallas as well as the Trinity River Valley areas below the dam from floods originating in the Denton Creek watershed. This Trinity River tributary drains an area of 720 square miles of which 695 square miles are above Grapevine Dam.

Conservation:

The lake provides 161,250 acre-feet of storage space for conservation purposesof which 85,000 acre-feet have been acquired by the city of Dallas, 50,000 acre feet by University Park and Highland Park, and 1,250 acre-feet by the city of Grapevine to serve their respective water supplies. The remaining 25,000 acre-feet of conservation storage space is reserved for navigation purposes. An additional 36,000 acre-feet of storage space are available for the accumulation of sediment deposits.

Lake Fluctuation:

As the lake functions for flood control and conservation, lake levels will fluctuate. The lake is considered to be at "conservation pool" at an elevation of 535; the Government has acquired, in perpetuity, the right to flood adjacent lands up to an elevation of 572. This is commonly called "flowage easement". Flowage easement may be privately owned but is encumbered by the Government's right to flood. The lake may also experience drawdowns below conservation pool as it meets the demands for municipal and industrial water supply.

Wear your life jacket