Not only is this big news for water consumers in the Dallas area, but it's big news for lake goes from Wichita Falls as well as the new lake is only about two and a half hours away.

The project to create a new reservoir and water source for the Dallas - Fort Worth metroplex area began back in 2003 and the projected cost is nearly $1.6 billion.

It's been 30 years since Texas created a new reservoir, so it was a really big day with Bois d'Arc Lake near Bonham began filling up.

When completed the project will have moved 5.2 million cubic yards of earth to build a 90 foot tall, two mile long dam; constructed a 1.3 mile long bridge and improved more than 11 miles of roadway; constructed a 110 foot tall intake tower to capture water from the lake; and laid 60 miles of pipeline to provide drinking water for North Texas residents.

Image Courtesy Bois d'Arc Lake Org
Image Courtesy Bois d'Arc Lake Org
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Bois d'Arc Lake will be nearly 15 miles long, have more than 170 miles of public and private shoreline, and a surface area of about 26 square miles. That's more than enough space for a day of fishing or just hanging about on the pontoon boat soaking up rays and sipping on a cold one.

The inlets were opened and the lake officially began filling up in mid April and the water level has already risen about 16 feet. It's unclear exactly how long it will take the 16,000 surface acre lake to fill, that's somewhat determined by the amount and location of rainfall over the tributaries that will feed the lake.

With enough water in the lake now it's already being stocked with about 2,000 specially bred trophy bass so fishing should be great when the lake opens to the public. That should be sometime in 2022. You can follow the North Texas Municipal Water District on Facebook for updates as opening day draws closer.

Bois d'Arc Lake is in Fannin county, along US-82, near Bonham.

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

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