USGS Water-Year Summary 2024

08018800 Lake Fork Reservoir near Quitman, TX

LOCATION - Lat 32°48'48", long 95°31'40" referenced to North American Datum of 1927, Wood County, TX, Hydrologic Unit 12010003, in room at left-end of gated concrete spillway structure of Lake Fork Dam on Lake Fork Creek, 2,000 ft upstream from bridge on State Highway 182, 2.3 mi upstream from Alum Branch, and 4.4 mi west-northwest of the county courthouse in Quitman.

DRAINAGE AREA - 490 mi².

SURFACE-WATER RECORDS

PERIOD OF RECORD - Oct. 1979 to current year. PERIOD OF RECORD, Water-Quality.-- CHEMICAL DATA: May 1981 to Apr. 1984, July 2006. PESTICIDE DATA: July 2006. RADIOCHEMICAL DATA: May 1981.

GAGE - Water-stage recorder. Datum of gage is 0.00 ft above NGVD of 1929 and 0.19 ft above NAVD of 1988. To obtain elevations in NAVD 1988, subtract 0.19 ft. Satellite telemeter at station.

COOPERATION - Capacity table 1-A was provided by URS/Forest and Cotton, Inc., Consulting Engineers for the Sabine River Authority. Observed elevations for the period Oct. 31, 1979, to Jan. 31, 1980, were provided by the Sabine River Authority. Capacity table, Table 2-C, provided by the Sabine River Authority was put into effect Oct. 1, 1996.

REMARKS - Some records listed in the "Period of Record" for surface water and water quality may not be available electronically. The lake is formed by a rolled earthfill dam 12,660 ft long, including a 260-foot gated concrete spillway. The outlet works consist of two 5- by 8-foot low-flow sluice gates, five 40- by 20-foot tainter gates, and two 5- by 6-foot sluice gates that open into a wet well where there are two 36-inch and one 10-inch valve-controlled and metered-outlet pipes. Deliberate impoundment began June 29, 1979, and closure of the dam was completed in Jan. 1980. The lake was built for water conservation and is owned by the Sabine River Authority. Flow is affected at times by discharge from the flood-detention pools of 21 floodwater-retarding structures with a combined detention capacity of 20,270 acre-ft. These structures control runoff from 60 mi² above the lake. Conservation pool storage is 675,820 acre-ft. Data regarding the dam are given in the following table:

                                                                                   Elevation (feet)
Top of dam............................................................          419.5
Top of tainter gates..................................................          405.0
Crest of gated spillway...............................................          385.0
Invert of upper sluice gate...........................................          383.0
Invert of lower sluice gate...........................................          360.5
Invert of sluice gate in two center pieces............................          360.0

EXTREMES FOR PERIOD OF RECORD - Maximum contents, 740,600 acre-ft, Dec. 28, 2015, elevation, 405.26 ft; minimum contents after initial filling, 81,550 acre-ft, Sept. 27, 1980, elevation, 366.86 ft.