Mountain Creek Lake

Mountain Creek Lake is a reservoir located 8 mi southwest of Downtown Dallas, Texas, United States, in the Mountain Creek area of the city. It is located south of SH 180, west of Spur 408, north of I-20, and east of FM 1382. The defunct Naval Air Station Dallas (Hensley Field), now an Armed Forces Reserve Center, is located on the northern shore of the lake. Mountain Creek Lake Park is on the lake's southeastern and southwestern edges. The Texas Department of State Health Services recently updated a fish consumption advisory for Mountain Creek Lake in Dallas County due to unsafe levels of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in certain species of fish.

DSHS tested tissue samples from fish as part of a re-evaluation of the lake. Concentrations of dioxins and PCBs in channel catfish, common carp, flathead catfish, freshwater drum, largemouth bass, smallmouth buffalo and white bass continue to exceed DSHS health guidelines. DSHS now recommends people limit or avoid consumption of these species as outlined in the table below:

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, women of childbearing age and children should not consume fish from this lake. Women past childbearing age and adult men should consume no more than follows:

White or black crappie- UNRESTRICTED

Channel catfish -      1 meal/month

Flathead catfish -     2 meal/month

Largemouth bass -      3 meal/month

White bass -           1 meal/month

Common carp -          DO NOT EAT

Smallmouth buffalo -   DO NOT EAT

Freshwater drum -      DO NOT EAT

The recommendations are stronger for children under 12 and women who are nursing, pregnant or who may become pregnant, because the nervous systems of unborn and young children are particularly susceptible to the health effects of toxins.

The updated advisory dated January 13, 2017 replaces guidelines issued in 2010 that recommended no one eat any fish from Mountain Creek Lake. Prior to that, the state prohibited people from possessing fish from the lake at all. Elevated levels of dioxins and PCBs in fish do not pose a health risk for people swimming, boating, or participating in other recreational activities.

History
Construction on Mountain Creek Dam began in 1929, and the dam was complete in early 1937. The reservoir was designed as a cooling reservoir for a Dallas Power and Light Company electric power plant.

The original permit for the lake suggested a capacity of 40,000 acre.ft, but the capacity in 1992 was only 22,840 acre.ft because of heavy siltation.