Lake Ray Hubbard, formerly
Forney Lake, is a
reservoirA reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
located in
Dallas, TexasDallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
in the counties of
DallasAs of the census of 2000, there were 2,218,899 people, 807,621 households, and 533,837 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,523 people per square mile . There were 854,119 housing units at an average density of 971/sq mi...
,
KaufmanAs of the census of 2000, there were 71,313 people, 24,367 households, and 19,225 families residing in the county. The population density was 91/sq mi . There were 26,133 housing units at an average density of 33/sq mi...
,
CollinAs of the census of 2000, there were 491,675 people, 181,970 households, and 132,292 families residing in the county. The population density was 580 people per square mile . There were 194,892 housing units at an average density of 230 per square mile...
, and
Rockwall CountyAs of the census of 2000, there were 43,080 people, 14,530 households, and 11,972 families residing in the county. The population density was 334 people per square mile . There were 15,351 housing units at an average density of 119 per square mile...
,
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, just north of
Forney, TexasForney is a city in Kaufman County, Texas, United States and has been named by the Texas legislature as the "Antique Capital of Texas". The population was 5,588 at the 2000 census...
, built on the East Fork
Trinity River (Texas)The Trinity River is a long river that flows entirely within the U.S. state of Texas. It rises in extreme north Texas, a few miles south of the Red River. The headwaters are separated by the high bluffs on the south side of the Red River....
and impounded by the Rockwall-Forney Dam.
It measures 22,745 acres (92 km²) in size with a storage capacity of 490000 acre.ft and a maximum depth of 40 feet (12 m). The dam is currently owned by the
City of DallasDallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
.
Interstate 30Interstate 30 is an Interstate Highway in the southern United States. I-30 runs from Interstate 20 west of Fort Worth, Texas, northeast via Dallas, Texas, and Texarkana, Texas, to Interstate 40 in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The route parallels U.S. Route 67 except for the portion west of...
bisects the lake. The lake was originally named Forney Lake for the nearby town of Forney, Texas. After the City of Dallas incorporated the lake, it was renamed after a living person, Ray Hubbard, who presided over the Dallas Parks and Recreation System board from 1943 to 1972. However, the company that administrates the distribution of its waters is still known as Forney Lake Water Supply Corp. The reservoir is currently managed by
Dallas Water UtilitiesDallas Water Utilities is the water and wastewater service operated by the City of Dallas, Texas, in the United States. DWU is a non-profit City of Dallas department that provides services to the city and 31 nearby communities, employs approximately 1450 people, and consists of 26 programs...
Originally designed to provide water to the North Texas region, the project was started in 1964 and managed by the S. and A. Construction Company and the Markham, Brown and M. C. Winter Construction Company. The lake was impounded in 1968, and a 2 miles (3.2 km) earthfill
damA dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
was completed in 1969. By 1970 the lake reached its maximum design extent.
Due to the territorial expansion and exercise of the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City of Dallas, the lake and the Interstate 30 bridges are now within the jurisdiction of the City of Dallas, rather than the cities surrounding it. There is a mutual aid agreement in place between Dallas and the other cities, but ultimate responsibility lies with Dallas.
The lake contains a large population of hybrid
striped bassThe striped bass is the state fish of Maryland, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and the state saltwater fish of New York, Virginia, and New Hampshire...
,
white bassThe white bass or sand bass The white bass or sand bass The white bass or sand bass (MoroneIt is the state fish of Oklahoma.- Range :White bass are distributed widely across the United States, particularly in the midwest. They are very abundant in Pennsylvania and the area around Lake Erie...
,
largemouth bassThe largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...
,
channel catfishChannel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States they are the most fished catfish species with approximately 8...
,
blue catfishThe blue catfish, Ictalurus furcatus, is one of the largest species of North American catfish. Blue catfish are distributed primarily in the Mississippi River drainage including the Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Arkansas rivers...
, and white crappie. Several areas of the lake have been infested with
hydrillaHydrilla is an aquatic plant genus, usually treated as containing just one species, Hydrilla verticillata, though some botanists divide it into several species. Synonyms include H. asiatica, H. japonica, H. lithuanica, and H. ovalifolica...
.
Because of its location in a densely populated area, the lake is crossed by several bridges and causeways. The most significant is
Interstate 30Interstate 30 is an Interstate Highway in the southern United States. I-30 runs from Interstate 20 west of Fort Worth, Texas, northeast via Dallas, Texas, and Texarkana, Texas, to Interstate 40 in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The route parallels U.S. Route 67 except for the portion west of...
, with six lanes on a 2.9 miles (4.7 km) causeway that bisects the lake, and
President George Bush TurnpikeThe President George Bush Turnpike is a 45.1-mile toll road running generally east–west through the northern suburbs of Dallas, Texas, United States. It is named for George H. W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States...
, which was under construction in 2010 with a 0.9 miles (1.4 km) bridge spanning the Rowlett Creek inlet. The 1.8 miles (2.9 km) Texas State Highway 66 bridge was constructed in the 1970s and twinned in the late 1980s, joining Rowlett and Rockwall, and other minor bridges exist on Rowlett Road and Miller Road. There is also a railway crossing formerly operated by Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad, now part of Union Pacific, which crosses the Muddy Creek inlet and joins the I-30 causeway.
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