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Lake Amanda is a private lake in Tyler County, Texas, near the town of Colmesneil, that along with its sister Frog Pond, were developed in the 1950s & 1960s by James Haralson from his family's old homestead. Lake Amanda was named after Mr. Haralson's daughter. The lots surrounding the lake were originally designed as fish camps where families could come to camp, fish, and enjoy the outdoors. Today some folks call the lake home full-time, others are here enjoying their retirement, and others just visit as a weekend get-away.
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Map of Amanda Lake, Texas 75938, USA
Lake Amanda has a surface area of approximately 112 acres and a normal water elevation of 210.
The earthfill dam is located at coordinates 30.889, -94.400, southeast of the town of Colmesneil. The spillway is constructed as a rectangular box culvert situated vertically near the dam, and it can be adjusted to raise or lower the level of the lake. It empties into Lively Branch, then into Wolf Creek, and ultimately into B.A. Steinhagen Reservoir.
On Friday, May 27, 2016, the Colmesneil area received a reported 14 inches of rainfall that afternoon, raising the level of the lake several feet, until the water started spilling over the earthen dam, which in turn caused massive erosion. Within a couple of hours, a catastrophic failure of the dam was the result, with a ±100 foot section of the dam washed downstream. The flooded lake emptied its contents downstream in less than two hours. The aforementioned Frog Pond lake has a horizontal concrete spillway a few feet lower than its earthen dam, the capacity of which prevented the water level there from spilling over the dam itself.