Location
Shaws Bend Dam
Topics
Description
In 1935, the Bureau of Reclamation first started studies of possible reservoirs in the Colorado River basin, leading to the construction of the Marshall Ford Dam and its impoundment of Lake Travis. Subsequent research that began in 1954 and resumed in 1975 identified a potential damsite at Shaws Bend, in the reach between La Grange and Columbus. Local opposition due to the low water capture and the large acreage condemnation that would be required led to the Lower Colorado River Authority, the local sponsor, withdrawing support in 1986. The interview excerpts below give more insight. One segment is from an Authority director, John Scanlan, and another is from Charles Trefny, a rancher and farmer whose lands would have been flooded.
Location Notes
It is uncertain exactly where the Shaws Bend dam might have been built, but the old community of Shaws Bend is roughly 5 miles northwest of Columbus, on FM 1890 (Shaws Bend Road), on the north side of the River. A marker there might make sense. Perhaps placing it at the intersection of FM 1890 and Jerrell Coffee Road would allow more people to see it.