Lakes

Inks Lake

Inks Lake water level

A small, steady lake between Lake Buchanan and Lake LBJ, best known for Inks Lake State Park. Inks Dam has no floodgates: high water pours over its spillway.

Inks Lake now

Inks Lake is at 887.2 feet above sea level, within its normal range of 886.9–887.7 feet, LCRA reading of Nov 14, 5:50 PM CST.

LCRA reading Nov 14, 5:50 PM CST

Past 24 hours
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Inks Dam releasing
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Past 7 days

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Loading the week’s readings…

At Inks Dam

Nov 14, 3:50 PM CST
Spillway
No spillway flow
Releasing
No current reading
Last full day
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Below the dam
825.0 ft
Before spillway flow
3,380 cfsthe most it passes before water tops the spillway
LCRA on the spillway:
Flow over the spillway is not expected.
Inflows:
Inflows to Inks Lake are below levels that would cause floodwaters to pass over the spillway of Inks Dam.
Forecast:
The level of Inks Lake is expected to remain within its normal operating range.

Releases can start suddenly — stay out of the water near the dams. Unofficial copy of LCRA’s flood operations report.

Hour-by-hour releases at Inks Dam

Water in and out

Comes in from

Goes out to

Rivers: LCRA gauges, as of Nov 14, 3:41 PM. Dam releases: LCRA’s latest measured hour.

Lake Travis water level todayInks Lake’s releases end up in Lake Travis, the chain’s big reservoir.681.4 ftAbove full pool

About Inks Lake

Inks Lake is the smallest stretch of the chain: 4.2 river miles of the Colorado between Buchanan Dam and Roy B. Inks Dam, 798 acres when full. Its water is what Buchanan Dam releases, plus local creeks such as Valley Spring Creek.

Inks Dam was finished in 1938. Unlike the other five dams it has no floodgates: in a flood, most of the water crosses an uncontrolled spillway, so the lake rises with whatever Buchanan Dam sends down.

LCRA runs Inks as a pass-through lake between 886.9 and 887.7 ft. That steadiness makes it popular for swimming and paddling, much of it through Inks Lake State Park, which Texas Parks and Wildlife runs on the lake.

Key facts

  • DamRoy B. Inks Dam, 1938
  • OperatorLCRA
  • Normal range886.9–887.7 ft
  • Surface area798 acres
  • Capacity13,772 acre-ft (2021 survey)
  • Length4.2 river miles
  • Deepest pointAbout 60 ft
  • Record high902.8 ft · Jul 25, 1938
  • Record low877.1 ft · Dec 6, 1983
  • CountiesBurnet, Llano

Parks on Inks Lake

Public places to get on or near the water. Check each operator for hours, fees and closures before you go.

All six Highland Lakes

Upstream to downstream along the Colorado River. Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis store water; the other four pass it through.

Inks Lake questions

Levels, releases and how Inks Lake fits into the Highland Lakes.

  • What is the water level of Inks Lake today?

    This page shows LCRA’s latest reading from Inks Dam at the top, checked every 30 minutes. LCRA holds Inks Lake between 886.9 and 887.7 ft above mean sea level outside floods.

  • Does Inks Dam have floodgates?

    No. Inks Dam is the only one of the six Highland Lakes dams without floodgates. In a flood, most of the water crosses its uncontrolled spillway, so the spillway status here takes the place of a floodgate count.

  • What is Inks Lake’s normal level?

    Between 886.9 and 887.7 ft above mean sea level. At 887.7 ft the lake covers 798 acres and holds 13,772 acre-feet, according to the Texas Water Development Board’s 2021 survey.

  • What are Inks Lake’s record high and low?

    In LCRA’s records the highest level is 902.8 ft, on July 25, 1938, weeks after the dam was finished, and the lowest is 877.1 ft, on December 6, 1983.

  • Where does Inks Lake get its water?

    Almost all of it comes from Lake Buchanan, through Buchanan Dam just upstream. Local creeks add a little; Valley Spring Creek enters at Inks Lake State Park’s Devil’s Waterhole.