Lake Amon G. Carter (Trinity River Basin)
Lake Amon G. Carter is actually two reservoirs joined by a twenty foot tunnel and is located about six miles south of the City of Bowie in Montague County, Texas on Big Sandy Creek, a tributary of the West Folk Trinity River, which is tributary of the Trinity River. The lake is owned and operated by the City of Bowie for municipal and industrial mining water supply and recreational purposes. The construction of the original dam began in July 1955, one month after the death of Fort Worth businessman and philanthropist Amon G. Carter, for whom the lake was named. The dam was completed in August, 1956 with deliberate impoundment of water starting in May 1956.
The lake has an original normal capacity of 20,050 acre-feet and surface area of 1,540 acres at conservation pool elevation of 920 feet above mean sea level. Starting in 1979 and finishing in 1985, the owner constructed another dam about one mile downstream of the old dam at the same height, hence the lake was enlarged. The top of the dam is at elevation of 938 feet above mean sea level, with an emergency spillway at its crest elevation of 937 feet above mean sea level. It has a total storage capacity (after enlargement) of approximately 27,500 acre-feet and a surface area of approximately 1,848 acres at the conservation pool elevation (service spillway crest) of 920 feet above mean sea level. The drainage area above the dam is approximately 111 square miles.