 Medina Lake was constructed between 1911-1912 as an irrigation reservoir. An extensive canal system delivers water to 34,000 acres of blackland prairie farmlands below the Balcones escarpment around Castroville.
At the time it was constructed it was the largest irrigation project west of the Mississippi. At spillway capacity, Media Lake covers about 5,575 acres, has a length of 18 miles, a maximum width of three miles and 110 miles of shoreline.
World famous engineer Dr. Fred Stark Pearson persuaded British investors to finance construction of the Medina dam and canal system. A crew of 1,500 men worked around the clock to mix 292,000 cubic yards of concrete and form it into a waterproof wall 164 feet high, 128 feet wide at the base (25 feet wide at the top) and 1,580 feet long.
Laborers received $2 per day, which were good wages for those days. Most were Mexican nationals who had prior experience building hydroelectric dams with Pearson in Mexico, and most of them brought their families. At least 70 people were killed by accidents and disease during the year of the dam’s construction.
Special thanks to Gregg A. Eckhardt for providing the text above. For more information about Medina Lake & Dam, please see his web site at: http://www.edwardsaquifer.net/medina.html
The sign reads:
 "Henri Castro, who colonized this area in the 1840’s, envisioned irrigated farms along the Media River. The project was delayed, however, until after the turn of the century, when Dr. Fred Stark Pearson, an internationally known engineer, persuaded British investors to finance construction of a dam at this site. Completed in 1912, Medina Dam was hailed as the largest in Texas and the fourth largest in the United States. Limestone boulders from a nearby quarry added bulk to the massive concrete structure. Four miles downstream, a small diversion dam conducted water into a system of irrigation canals. Gravitational force delivered the water to fields.
The outbreak of World War I (1914) disrupted ties with British investors. Seeking new capital Dr. Pearson and his wife left for England in 1915 on the Lusitania and were killed when a German submarine torpedoed the ship.
The irrigation network created by Medina Dam brought new prosperity to the this region. Vegetables raised in irrigated fields became a valuable crop. Water and electricity were made available to rural residents. In 1925 voters established the Bexar-Medina-Atascosa Counties Water Improvement District No. 1 to manage the project." |
