Lytle Lake Dam is an earthen embankment dam constructed in 1897 near Abilene, Texas. The lake and dam’s namesake, John Lytle, lived along the banks of the creek and made his fortune selling wild horses for gold, which he buried prior to his untimely death. The long history of the dam is captured from the community's perspective in surprising detail within a book published by a local historian, which includes numerous photos and newspaper articles dating from 1898 to 2020.
Included in the long history is the evolution of the dam’s uses for water supply, irrigation, power generation, and recreation, as described by the book. The dam has experienced challenging periods of droughts and heavy rain, including a breach. In November 1913, approximately 800,000,000 gallons (2,455 ac-ft) of water was released through a breach with noted blame placed on seepage pathways caused by “mudbugs” (crawfish). State inspection and hydrologic evaluation of the dam dating back to 1979 identified potential inadequacies of the dam and its once wooden service spillway. Since then, an array of improvements have been implemented, including the reinforcement of the now concrete service spillway weir crest structure, raising of the dam, and other structural improvements. Considering Lytle Lake Dam's classification as a high-hazard potential dam, it is important to draw lessons from past inadequacies and adopt risk-informed decision-making to inform and obtain funds for additional improvements that can prevent a failure such as the one experienced in 1913 from reoccurring.
In 2023, the Lytle Lake Water Control and Improvement District (LLWCID) and HDR Engineering, Inc. (HDR) performed a semi-quantitative risk analysis (SQRA) in support of the risk-based prioritization to meet project funding requirements of the Federal Emergency Management Agency High Hazard Potential Dams (FEMA-HHPD) grant program. This paper will discuss the colorful history of Lytle Lake Dam, the infamous dam breach, potential whereabouts of the missing gold, and a high-level summary of the SQRA results and how they aligned with the dam history and previous inspections, and the successful applications of HHPD grant funding.
