Lavon Lake (Trinity River Basin)
Lavon Lake is located about twenty miles northeast of Dallas, in Collin County, on the East Folk, a tributary of the Trinity River. The lake was built, and is owned and operated, by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the purposes of flood control, water supply and recreation. The Lake Lavon Project was authorized by Congress in March of 1945 under Public Law 79-14-1 of the River and Harbor Act for flood control and water conservation. Construction began in January, 1948 and was completed in September, 1953. Deliberate impoundment of water began on September 14, 1953. In 1962, Congressional approval was given to modify the project to increase storage for water supply because of the growing water supply need of the area.
A major modification to the dam, raising the top of water supply and flood control pools, was completed in December, 1975. The 19,493-foot dam has a maximum height above streambed of 81 feet. At top of flood control pool, elevation 503.5 feet above mean sea level, the lake will cover 29,450 acres and store 748,200 acre feet water. The dam controls run-off from an area of approximately 770 square miles surrounding headwaters of the East Fork of the Trinity River.