Barker Reservoir (San Jacinto River Basin)
Barker Reservoir and Barker Dam is located near Barker in Harris and Fort Bend Counties, on Bufflo Bayou, which is tributary to the San Jacinto River. The reservoir is owned by the U. S. Government and operated, in conjunction with the nearby Addicks Reservoir, by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to prevent downstream flooding of Buffalo Bayou in the City of Houston. Both reservoirs were authorized under the Rivers and Harbors Act of June 20, 1938, which were modified by the Flood Control Acts of August 11, 1938; September 3, 1954; and October 27, 1965. Construction of the dam started in February, 1942 and completed in February 1945. Barker Dam is a rolled earthen embankment of 71,900 feet long with a maximum height of 36.5 feet above the streambed.
The top of dam has a maximum elevation of 114 feet above mean sea level. The maximum storage capacity of the reservoir is 209,013 acre feet with a water surface area of about 16,739 acres, at a controlled elevation 106 feet above mean sea level. Combined with the adjacent Addicks Reservoir to the northeast, the total storage capacity is about 410,000 acre-feet.