CANYON LAKE, Texas – Located about 20 miles from New Braunfels, Canyon Lake is known as a popular spot for water recreation. But in July, its vital role in flood control was highlighted as the reservoir helped to keep the Guadalupe River from flooding communities downstream.
“It’s a man-made constructed reservoir and it was constructed for flood control and for water supply primarily,” said Marcus Schimank, an operations manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Schimank is with the Corps’ Forth Worth district, which oversees Canyon Lake. He said the Guadalupe River’s reputation for flooding is well known.
“The Guadalupe River has seen a lot of flood events, especially in the (1930s) some bad ones, and so that spurred people to start talking about the need for flood control and flood protection on rivers,” Schimank said.
Tasked with looking into how to accomplish both, the Corps began looking into a solution that would be presented to federal officials.
Texas lawmakers wanting to ensure state interests regarding the river’s resources would be considered and protected also created the Guadalupe Blanco River Authority to confer with the Corps.
“The Corps of Engineers presented a report in 1939 and a recommendation that (Canyon Lake Dam) be constructed,” Schimank said.
But the dam would need congressional authorization before it could be built.
Congress passed the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1945 and 1954. The laws identified multiple rivers and harbors throughout the United States that needed to be repaired or needed some type of flood control infrastructures built.
The legislation also identified how the measures would be paid for.
Schimank said construction started in 1958 and was completed in 1964. The cost of the dam, according to the Pertinent Data Sheet, was over $18.8 million.
He said once Canyon Lake was built, it took four years for the reservoir to reach conservation pool level or full.
Schimank said in 1978, the remnants of Tropical Storm Amelia dropped 40 inches of rain on the Hill Country, causing the Guadalupe River to jump its banks. The town of Comfort was hit hard and as the waters rushed downstream, they were intercepted by Canyon Lake.
“The lake rose up 21.6 feet into the flood pool, Schimank said. “So that was the first significant event.”
Since that time, Canyon Lake had been able to sustain the girth and power of the Guadalupe River when it floods.
The July 2002 flood has been the only time in its history when the lake was filled to capacity and flood waters went over the spillway.
Schimank said Canyon Lake took in the floodwaters of the Guadalupe River that devastated families and communities in Hunt, Ingram and Kerrville on the Fourth of July, preventing them from the possibility of bringing more loss and tragedy downstream.
“The dam did its job just like it has in the past,” he said.
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