Did You Know...

. . . that Austin, Texas, was saved from serious flooding during wet weather last June by the string of dams that run from Lake Buchanan down to Lake Austin? The dams that create the Highlands Lakes brought Central Texas more than just safety from floods. The lakes, rivers and six dams that run from Lake Buchanan to Austin transformed the capital city, the Hill Country and Central Texas.

The origin of Highlands Lakes goes back 70 years to a series of devastating floods. The floods of the 1930s left Austin a damp disaster. In 1935, 22 inches of rain hit Austin in three hours. Everything along the Colorado River in downtown Austin was lost. Cries grew for dams to control the raging waters and bring electricity to the Hill Country, and Lyndon B. Johnson - then a congressman - led the charge in Washington.

The Lower Colorado River project has saved countless lives and property in the face of floods. Ten times the water flow would rampage through downtown Austin without the dams. It has brought millions of dollars in business, year-around recreation and electricity to what was hardscrabble, barren land. It now powers 53 counties. Because Lakes Buchanan, LBJ, Inks, Marble Falls and Austin have little leeway in water levels, the linchpin to the whole engineering marvel is the mighty Lake Travis.

Source: CBS 42, June 28, 2007.

(reprinted from the USSD Newsletter, July 2007, page 3)