Construction is set to begin soon on the Leon Hurse Dam after Granite Construction recently secured a US$160 million contract to build the dam in Ladonia, Texas. The dam project will be the first lake construction in the state in about 35 years. The Leon Hurse Dam is a component of the overall Lake Ralph Hall project which will provide crucial water for an area whose population is projected to increase nearly five times its current population in the next 50 years. Granite Construction will be in charge of building the new earthen dam and pertinent structural, electrical, mechanical, and architectural facilities, anticipated to provide 170 million litres per day of water for people in four different counties as one of Texas’ newest dams.
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Along with the Leon Hurse project construction is the Bois d’Arc Lake construction in Fannin County, Texas which, together with the Leon Hurse project, is meant to help address water needs. Construction is scheduled to begin within the next month with expectations to complete the project by December 2025. The project’s permit allows construction through December 2026 however, according to the executive director of Upper Trinity Regional Water District, Larry Patterson.
The Texas Water Board is being banked on to be a major low-interest financer. In the second quarter of 2019, the state board approved US$45.5 million for Upper Trinity to continue land acquisition. It was the district’s second award since 2015 when Texas approved US$44.7 million for permits and preliminary lake design.This was the first round of land acquisition. Funding comes from a US$2 billion fund brought about by a 2013 Texas constitutional change to bring about the state’s water plan. Lake Ralph Hall construction will include a new bridge over the reservoir for the Texas Highway 34 and the relocation of Ladonia Fossil Park to below Leon Hurse Dam. The dam will be 4 kilometres long and is currently permitted to store 180,000 acre feet of water.
