Deep hole in resevoir?

[pepperbelly]

I plan on being as careful and thumbing the dive at the first sign of anything that seems hinky.
When I checked with the TRWD I made sure it wasn't an intake or anything connected to the dam.
I plan on a lot more research before even beginning to plan a dive.
It is unusual enough to merit a lot of extra caution.

 

[Steve_C]

Get a 90ft rope and somebody else's gopro with light and lower it down. Use somebody else's in case it snags?

 

[pepperbelly]

Steve, that might be a good way to go- although I am not sure I would want you as a friend.

 

[diversteve]

I made sure it wasn't an intake

Good plan....

There's a lake here that has a naturally occurring sump and no one exactly knows where the water goes - except the river a couple miles away is a likely guess. It's all silty and murky so no one is eager to find out. I have not dove there but I understand there's a small but persistent current taking things down. It makes sense as there's a spring feeding it yet it never gets deeper.

Plan for some level of loose mud/silt to be kicked up when near the bottom. Lakes don't clear quickly when the bottom is disturbed.

 

[pepperbelly]

I have dove this lake years ago tecovering some floats for a friend at the swim area.
Silt out is no joke.

 

[Neilwood]

If it was a quarry, it is entirely possible that there was a sump so that any water drained to that point.

 

[pepperbelly]

I don't think this resevoir was a quarry, but that is something I will research.

 

[pepperbelly]

A very brief search shows Eagle Mountain Lake was created by damming the Trinity River back in 1928. I saw no mention of a quarry operation on the sote, but I need to do a lot more research. I have no idea why they picked that location so it's possible there was a small quarry before they dammed the river.

 

[ibj40]

You also might check to see if you can find a USGS topo map that dates to prior to the construction of the lake. Those maps have both natural and man-made elements on them. Although, with a lake that old (first impounded in the 30's), finding a USGS map that old might be tough.

 

[pepperbelly]

Fortunately I like history. The research itself will be fun and interesting.
This area had several Army Air Force facilities and airstrips back around WWII. I found some of the building foundstions are still visible. I was looking into that history a few years ago because my grandfather started at Air Force Bomber Plant #4 in 1941.