The lake construction was paid for by the sale of revenue bonds that were to be redeemed with income derived from the sale of water. The dam construction began in 1966 and was completed in 1969, by Forrest and Cotton, Incorporated. The cost to build the earthen dam was US$83,996,957.
Use
Water stored in the lake is used to supply industrial, municipal, and agricultural needs in the lower Trinity River Basin and the Houston/Galveston metropolitan area. Its significance in the face of the extraordinary growth experienced by this region of the upper Texas Gulf Coast is tremendous. Many public and commercial recreation facilities, including full-service marinas, camping, and motel accommodations are located along the shoreline. The City of Houston owns two-thirds of the water rights of the lake, with the other third remaining under the control of the TRA.
The lake
The earthfill dam has a concretespillway and was designed by Brown and Root, Incorporated. The dam has a spillway crest elevation of above mean sea level. The average base width of the dam's earthen embankment is wide. The spillway is designed and constructed to pass flows of three times the maximum recorded flow of the river at this site. Lake Livingston has a surface area of 83,000 acres and impounds of water at its normal pool elevation of above mean sea level. The average depth of the lake is with a maximum depth of. Lake Livingston has more than of shoreline extending into San Jacinto, Polk, Walker, and Trinity Counties.
Flood control
Lake Livingston was built with no flood-control or flood-storage capabilities, and because of this, all water entering the lake, whether it be from rainfall or inflow, must exit the lake as increased intake occurs. Flow through the dam is controlled by 12 tainter gates in a concrete and steel spillway that has an average depth of 55 feet. Operations of the spillway mirrors river flow, so within a relatively short period of time, increase of river flow, discharge is increased, and vice versa.
On September 23, 2005, rain and winds from Hurricane Rita caused waves up to 4 feet in height to pound against the Lake Livingston dam. As a result, 11,000 feet of large protective stones, or riprap, were stripped from the upstream face of the dam. To repair the damage, the TRA lowered the lake's pool level by 4 feet to 127 feet, preventing any further erosion of the exposed earthen embankment. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the City of Houston footed the $9.6 million repair bill and awarded the repair contract to Archer Western Contractors. Over the course of the repair, movement of 72,215 tons of 32-inch rock in 3,183 truckloads and 15,808 tons of 8-inch bedding rock in 687 truckloads was required. The rock was mined from a quarry in Navarro County near Corsicana. Work was largely completed by April 28, 2006, but due to severe drought, the lake's regular pool level was not reached until November, 2006. During the 2017 Hurricane Harvey, Lake Livingston reached a level of 133.52 feet above mean sea level and released 110,600 ft3 of water per second.
