Lake Whitney

Lake Whitney is a flood control reservoir on the main stem of the Brazos River in Texas. It is located on River Mile Marker 442 and controls drainage for 17656sqmi of Texas and parts of New Mexico. The reservoir encompasses a surface area of more than 23,500 acres and 225mi of shoreline. The area consists of rolling, tallgrass prairies; cedar trees; hardwood timber; and 100ft bluffs and rock points. Lake Whitney is also part of the Texas Lakes Trail Region of North Texas.Whitney Dam is an earthen dam, 166 feet high, owned and operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.History1900s: Texas experienced a number of devastating floods in the early 1900s resulting in death and destruction due to rivers overflowing from heavy rainfalls.1930s: United States government began approving and authorizing the building of dams along Texas rivers with the intention to absorb these floodwaters.1940s: The plan to create the Whitney Reservoir (Lake Whitney) on the Brazos River for flood control and other purposes, such as hydro-electric power development, was approved and authorized by Congress in 1944. The dam construction started in 1947 and lasted four years.1950s: In 1951, the lake was impounded. The dam's power plant was under construction from 1951 to 1953. After a record-breaking drought in Texas during the 1950s, there was an emphasis on reservoirs serving a secondary purpose, with the primary one being flood control, as water storage facilities for Texas residents, communities, businesses, agriculture, and others.Present: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to operate several flood control reservoirs within the Brazos River basin, including Lake Whitney.