Taming the Untamable Rivers: How the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Built Central Texas’ Flood Control Lakes
Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer
For Central Texas landowners, rivers are both a blessing and a tremendous threat. The same Texas waterways that nourish the soil and support recreation can, with little warning, rise into devastating and fatal torrents. The State’s first ever formal State Flood Plan released in 2024 revealed that approximately 5,000,000 Texans live in flood-prone areas. Yet, Texas’ population continues to surge as thousands of people move here every month.
Even before the modern era of Texas as an economic powerhouse and destination state, recognition of the potential for flooding disaster led to one of the most ambitious—and often overlooked—federal undertakings in Texas history: the construction of a chain of flood control reservoirs by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Each of these lakes, from Canyon Lake to Stillhouse Hollow, was built not just for recreation or water storage, but primarily to protect human life, property, and commerce in the flood-prone heart of Texas. This post examines why some of the lakes forming this chain were built, when, how the sites were chosen, and what legal implications remain relevant today.
The 1935 Floods and the Federal Shift Toward Flood Control
The real turning point came in 1935, when catastrophic flooding of the Colorado and Guadalupe Rivers caused millions in damages across Central Texas. The federal government, still reeling from the Great Depression, shifted its policy to proactively construct infrastructure under the Flood Control Act of 1936. The Act was adopted by Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt in direct response to public outcry for federal aid for flood-prone portions of the United States. It was the first formal acknowledgment that flood control “is a proper activity of the federal Government.”
That legislation empowered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to design and construct flood control projects throughout the United States—including those in Texas hill country. Site selection and project funding were based on technical feasibility, local political support, and hydrological risk assessments.
Canyon Lake (Guadalupe River Basin)
Authorized: 1954 | Completed: 1964
Among the most high-profile Central Texas projects, Canyon Lake was designed to tame the flash flooding of the Guadalupe River, which runs through Kerrville, New Braunfels, and Seguin. The project was championed by the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority and supported by local governments and agricultural stakeholders.
The site was chosen based on a narrow stretch of limestone bluffs near Sattler, where the canyon could hold a large volume of impounded water. The reservoir also supplies municipal water and provides a popular recreational amenity—but its core function remains flood control for the Guadalupe River Valley and the I-35 corridor.
At conservation pool level, Canyon Lake has a capacity of 378.852 acre-feet. It has a surface area of 8,309 acres and 93 miles of shoreline. At flood control pool level of 943 ft-msl, the lake has an additional capacity of 362,048 acre-feet making total storage 740,900 acre-feet.
Stillhouse Hollow Lake (Lampasas River Basin)
Authorized: 1945 | Completed: 1968.
Constructed to protect the towns of Belton, Killeen, and Temple, Stillhouse Hollow Lake regulates the Lampasas River and, downstream, the Little River basin. This area of the Blackland Prairie is notorious for low-permeability soils and rapid runoff, making it highly vulnerable to flash flooding.
The U.S. Army Corps chose a site in Bell County that offered topographic advantages and minimal displacement of existing development. The lake also now supports Fort Hood, one of the Army’s largest installations, highlighting its national security importance.
Construction took four years and was completed July 1968. The lake has a conservation pool of 622.00 mean sea level (msl) of deliberate impoundment. Its record maximum level is 667.97 msl reached on March 4, 1992.
Lake Georgetown (San Gabriel River)
Authorized: 1954 | Completed: 1980
Flooding along the San Gabriel River had long plagued Williamson County, but it wasn’t until rapid urbanization in the 1970s that Lake Georgetown became a federal priority. Rising populations in Round Rock and Georgetown meant greater downstream risk.
The project faced local opposition due to the relocation of ranching families and burial grounds, but the Corps moved forward based on projected flood damage savings. Today, the lake also provides drinking water to the City of Georgetown and buffers downstream flows into the Lower Brazos River system.
According to data from the Corps of Engineers, the lake can hold up to 130,800 acre feet of water encompassing a surface area of approximately 3,220 acres at the top of flood control pool, with an elevation of 834 feet msl. The dam controls a drainage area of approximately 246 square miles.
Belton Lake (Leon River)
Authorized: 1945 | Completed: 1954
One of the first postwar flood control reservoirs in Central Texas, Belton Lake was a response to repeated inundation of the Leon River valley and the agricultural losses that followed. Fort Hood’s wartime expansion had highlighted the need for water security and infrastructure resiliency in the region.
The location near the town of Belton allowed for a large impoundment with limited upstream development. Like Canyon and Stillhouse, Belton Lake now serves multiple functions, including recreation, municipal supply, and groundwater recharge—but its spillway and emergency gates tell the real story: it’s a dam built for floods.
According to a 2003 survey by the Texas Water Development Board, at the top of conservation pool, at an elevation of 594 feet above mean sea level, the lake covers 12,135 surface acres and stores 435,225 acre feet of water. Based on original survey information, at the top of the flood control pool (or crest of uncontrolled emergency spillway), with an elevation 631 feet above mean sea level, the lake would cover 23,620 acres and store 1,097,600 acre feet of water. The maximum design water surface may reach an elevation of 658.02 feet above mean sea level. The lake controls a drainage area of about 3,560 square miles.
Granger Lake (San Gabriel River – East Fork)
Authorized: 1965 | Completed: 1980
Granger Lake was a direct response to widespread flooding that repeatedly damaged the rural farm towns along the East Fork of the San Gabriel. This basin saw less political momentum until the late 1960s, when increased investment from the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) and municipalities downstream pushed it to the top of the Corps’ list.
Flood insurance studies justified the location based on downstream risk and the hydrology of a highly erosive watershed. The Corps acquired land through negotiated easements and some eminent domain actions, with localized opposition mitigated through economic incentives and public works enhancements.
Legal Considerations for Landowners and Developers
While these lakes offer flood protection, they also come with regulatory strings. Landowners near these reservoirs are often subject to restrictions under the FEMA floodplain mapping system, conservation easements, and flowage easements held by the Corps of Engineers.
Flood pool elevations are not just advisory—they can affect property use, subdivision planning, and even insurance eligibility. Developers must also consider flowage easement mapping, spillway design parameters, and historical flood pool behavior when acquiring or subdividing land near these lakes.
Water rights, recreational access, and groundwater wells near these impoundments may also be governed or influenced by overlapping jurisdiction between local river authorities, groundwater conservation districts, and the Corps.
Conclusion: Water Control as Destiny
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reshaped the legal and hydrological map of Central Texas by constructing the flood control lakes. For landowners, brokers, developers, and citizens seeking recreation, these reservoirs are scenic amenities. But look more closely and you will see that they are also engineered solutions to the very real problem of flood risk, and they carry multiple layers of legal implications.
Understanding their origins, functions, and modern regulatory overlay is essential for anyone working with land in the shadow of these flood-control giants. As Texas continues to urbanize and weather extremes intensify, these lakes will only grow more significant to the real estate landscape of Central Texas. I comfortably predict that future flood research will reveal that these lake were ingenious, but imperfect, solutions. More flood control is necessary.
Author: Trey Wilson, Real Estate Attorney in San Antonio and Texas Water Lawyer
