Bois d’Arc Lake Program Wins 2024 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award
December 2024
The Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers annually recognizes an exemplary civil engineering project as the Texas Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement (OCEA). Established in 1960, this distinguished award honors a project that best illustrates superior civil engineering skills and a significant contribution to civil engineering progress and society.
The $1.6 billion Bois d’Arc Lake program centers on Texas’ first major reservoir in almost 30 years — a crucial new water source for more than 2 million people in more than 71 growing communities served by the North Texas Municipal Water District.
- Bois d’Arc Lake initially can provide up to 70 million gallons a day of drinking water for North Texans, with expansions planned.
- The lake increases recreational opportunities and economic development for the area.
- Ecological improvements across 17,000+ acres to offset the reservoir’s footprint mesh environmental resilience with infrastructure progress.
All the main elements were built simultaneously in 2018-2023: a dam and 16,641-acre reservoir; a treatment plant, two huge pump stations, and 60 miles of pipelines; two major sites of forested and emergent wetlands, grasslands, and stream restoration mitigation. Customers started receiving treated water from the system in Spring 2023.
Delivering Bois d’Arc Lake required foresight, ingenuity, resourcefulness, and extensive coordination involving a broad and dedicated array of partners. The team expertly navigated a myriad of challenges, and the final cost is expected to come within 1% of the target.
The new system enables NTMWD to execute its service mandate:
- BUILDING RESILIENCE in meeting current and future clean-water needs
- FULFILLING PROMISES to its customers and member cities
- RESPONSIBLY STEWARDING RESOURCES, both fiscal and environmental
