Mansfield Dam and the Making of Lake Travis

The Colorado River flooded badly for years. After an earlier dam failed in 1900, efforts continued to control the river. Mansfield Dam was completed in 1942. It created Lake Travis, which works as both a flood control reservoir and a major water supply for the Austin area. Tom Miller Dam, finished in 1940, created Lake Austin just downstream.

The Lower Colorado River Authority, known as LCRA, manages both dams today. Lake Travis can hold an extra 776,000 acre-feet of water in its flood pool. That extra storage has protected Austin from much worse downstream flooding during big rain events.