Texas Highland Lakes facts for kids
The Texas Highland Lakes are a cool chain of six freshwater lakes in Central Texas. They were made by building six big dams on the lower Colorado River. This river flows southeast from West Texas all the way to Matagorda Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
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Discover the Texas Highland Lakes
Meet the Lakes and Dams
These lakes and their dams are lined up from northwest to southeast, following the river's flow. Here they are, from the highest point to the lowest:
- Buchanan Dam created Lake Buchanan
- Inks Dam created Inks Lake
- Wirtz Dam created Lake LBJ
- Max Starcke Dam created Lake Marble Falls
- Mansfield Dam created Lake Travis
- Tom Miller Dam created Lake Austin
Why Were These Lakes Built?
The area around the lower Colorado River used to have really big floods. To help control these floods, the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) built these dams. They also built them to make electricity using the power of moving water. This is called hydroelectric power. All this important work happened in the 1930s and 1940s.
Two Kinds of Lakes: Storage and Pass-Through
The Texas Highland Lakes have different jobs. The two largest lakes, Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis, are like giant bathtubs. They store most of the water for the whole region. This water is used for drinking, farming, and other needs.
The smaller lakes—Inks Lake, Lake LBJ, Lake Marble Falls, and Lake Austin—are called "pass-through" lakes. This means water flows through them more quickly. Their water levels usually stay within a certain range.
