These are reservoirs with no lake in them. Built in the 1940s after the 1935 flood tore through downtown, Addicks and Barker are dry dams — earthen embankments up to a dozen miles long that sit empty most of the time, holding parks, prairie and forest inside the pool, and fill only when a storm demands it. In August 2017 Harvey filled them to record levels and the Corps released water into neighborhoods downstream to protect the structures, a decision that made a piece of 1940s flood engineering suddenly and painfully visible.
Getting there
29.7880, -95.6300
Locations are approximate and may be inaccurate, on private land, or otherwise inaccessible. Check before you travel.
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
