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Wirtz Dam

Buildings and structures in Burnet County, TexasDams completed in 1950Dams in TexasEnergy infrastructure completed in 1950Hydroelectric power plant stubs
Hydroelectric power plants in TexasLower Colorado River Authority damsTexas building and structure stubsUnited States dam stubsUnited States power station stubs
Wirtz Dam 2016
Wirtz Dam 2016

Wirtz Dam (formerly Granite Shoals Dam) was constructed from 1949 to 1951 to provide hydroelectric power and to form Lake Lyndon B. Johnson (formerly Lake Granite Shoals), one of the Texas Highland Lakes. Lake LBJ ‒ as it is more commonly referred to ‒ provides cooling water for the Lower Colorado River Authority's Thomas C. Ferguson Power Plant along Horseshoe Bay. Wirtz Dam was originally named Granite Shoals Dam until 1951 when it was renamed in honor of Alvin J. Wirtz who had been instrumental in the formation of the LCRA. Likewise, Lake LBJ was originally named Lake Granite Shoals until 1965 when it was renamed for another advocate of the LCRA, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. Wirtz Dam and Lake LBJ are located due west of Lake Marble Falls and the city of Marble Falls, Texas.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Wirtz Dam (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Wirtz Dam
Wirtz Dam Road,

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Latitude Longitude
N 30.555555555556 ° E -98.337777777778 °
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Wirtz Dam Road

Wirtz Dam Road
78657
Texas, United States
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Wirtz Dam 2016
Wirtz Dam 2016
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Texas Highland Lakes
Texas Highland Lakes

The Texas Highland Lakes are a chain of fresh water reservoirs in Central Texas formed by dams on the lower Colorado River. The Texas Colorado River winds southeast from West Texas to Matagorda Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The lower Colorado River basin has a history of major flooding. The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) built the dams to manage floods and generate hydroelectric power in the 1930s and 1940s. Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake) and the respective Longhorn Dam are sometimes considered the seventh "honorary" lake and dam of the Highland Lakes despite being commissioned and managed by the City of Austin instead of the LCRA. Unlike the other reservoirs in the chain which were constructed primarily to prevent flooding and generate hydroelectric power, Lady Bird Lake was constructed in order to provide a cooling pond for the city's new power plant. The two largest lakes—Buchanan and Travis—are the reservoirs that store water supply for the region. The smaller lakes—Inks, LBJ, Marble Falls and Austin—are pass-through lakes that are operated within a certain range. In all, the six official dams of the Highland Lakes have a hydroelectric power production capacity of 295MW, with Mansfield Dam alone able to provide 108MW. While Longhorn Dam has no hydroelectric production capacity, Lady Bird Lake served as a cooling pond for the 100MW Seaholm Power Plant and the 550MW Holly Street Power Plant until they were closed in 1996 and 2007, respectively.