Blake Kettler, area project manager of Possum Kingdom Lake for the Brazos River Authority, gave an informative and detailed presentation today to a packed Rotary meeting room about the BRA, the watershed it manages and controls and Possum Kingdom Lake. He is pictured with program chair for the day Stacy Choate, left, and club President David Cairone, right. They are standing beside a model of a gate used on Morris Sheppard Dam at Possum Kingdom Lake.
With a watershed stretching from the Texas Panhandle almost at the New Mexico state line to the Gulf of Mexico south of Freeport, it totals 1,050 miles and comprises 44,620 square miles, 42,000 of which are in Texas. The Brazos River begins at the confluence of the upper forks of the river, the Salt and Double Mountain, in Stonewall County. The Clear Fork joins the river just above Possum Kingdom Lake in Young County.
Kettler noted the BRA was formed by the Texas Legislature in 1929 and receives no state funding. BRA has more than 200 employees and a $61.9 million annual budget.
There are 11 water supply reservoirs within the watershed with a 12th one under development near Houston. Possum Kingdom is the northernmost reservoir in the BRA system. Possum Kingdom Lake, Lake Granbury and Limestone Lake are BRA's three reservoirs in the system, and Allen's Creek Reservoir once online will be its fourth. The others are U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reservoirs.
BRA also operates two pipeline systems.
Construction on the Morris Sheppard Dam in Palo Pinto County began in 1938 and was completed in 1941, making it the oldest BRA dam. Possum Kingdom Lake covers an area of 16,716 acres with 219 miles of shoreline. The reservoir holds approximately 540,000 acre-feet of water with 230,750 acre-feet available as water supply for the Brazos basin. Depth of the lake varies with the original terrain of the area and is approximately 100 feet at the dam site.
The dam is 2,700 feet long and 190 feet high and consists of nine crest "roof weir" type gates, each approximately 74 feet long and 13 feet high, for the passage of floodwaters. Each gate passes approximately 9,600 cubic feet per second (cfs) of water when open. The Morris Sheppard dam was originally constructed with a hydroelectric generating facility that is no longer in use.
Kettler noted Possum Kingdom Lake is also contracted to provide water to Abilene when needed during periods of significant drought through a piped system running from the lake to a facility in Breckenridge where the water is "polished," Kettler said, meaning processed to reduced solids and salt content but not brought to drinking quality standards.
Attending Wednesday's meeting were BRA board members from Palo Pinto County Jim Lattimore and Richard Ball, though Ball had to leave early because of another obligation.
Rotary Club meets every Wednesday at noon at Holiday Hills Country Club for lunch, networking, updates on club news and events and a program of interest. If you would like to attend a meeting, or learn more about becoming a member to help us put "Service Above Self," contact a Mineral Wells Rotarian.