Boat Docks & Piers
Fixed and floating docks set to a level the lake actually holds, with anchoring, lighting and access detailed to LCRA's residential dock standards.
Lakes We Serve · Highland Lakes, TX
Boat docks, boathouses and retaining walls on Lake Marble Falls.
The smallest of the Highland Lakes is also the most forgiving to build on: LCRA holds it within about eight inches all year. What complicates it is not the water. It is the rock.
Know the Water
A six-mile pool of the Colorado, running through the middle of town.
Lake Marble Falls is a narrow, riverine reservoir between two dams — and it barely moves.
The lake is impounded by Max Starcke Dam and runs upstream about 5.75 miles to Wirtz Dam, which separates it from Lake LBJ. Construction of the dam ran from November 1949 to October 1951; deliberate impoundment began in July 1951 and power generation started on September 25, 1951. It was called Marble Falls Dam until 1962, when it was renamed for Max Starcke, LCRA's second general manager.
At the 737.0-foot conservation pool the lake covers 613 acres, per the Texas Water Development Board's February 2020 volumetric and sedimentation survey; LCRA publishes the same figure. It sits in Burnet County by TWDB and LCRA reckoning, though TPWD's lake page differs from both on acreage, pool elevation, impoundment year and counties — worth knowing if you have been reading conflicting numbers. TPWD puts maximum depth at about 60 feet. Nobody publishes a shoreline mileage for a lake this small.
The number that matters to a builder is the operating range. LCRA holds Marble Falls between 736.2 and 737.0 feet above mean sea level — less than a foot of normal movement, on a chain where Buchanan and Travis can move tens of feet. Conservation storage is only 7,597 acre-feet, because this is a pass-through pool between two dams rather than a storage reservoir. There is no seasonal drawdown to design around, which is a genuine advantage: deck elevations, slip depths and gangway geometry can be set to a level the lake will actually hold.
Scope of Work
What Shoretech builds on Lake Marble Falls.
Detailed for a constant-level pool and a bank made of limestone rather than soil.
Boathouses & Covered Slips
Covered structures and lifts on rock-founded substructure, sized against the 1,500-square-foot threshold that keeps a residential dock outside LCRA permitting.
Retaining Walls & Shoreline Work
Terraced retaining walls and bank stabilization for bluff and boulder frontage — steel, vinyl, FRP composite or heavy timber, matched to what the rock will accept.
Precision Dredging
Slip and access dredging scoped against the Dredge and Fill Ordinance thresholds, so a project lands in Tier I notification rather than Tier II permitting where it can.
Two Rulebooks, Not One
A dock is unregulated here. A retaining wall is not.
This is the distinction owners on the Highland Lakes most often get wrong, and it decides whether a project needs an LCRA permit at all.
1
Residential docks: no permit, but real standards
LCRA requires no permit, registration or fee for a residential dock of 1,500 square feet or less. It must still comply with the Safety Standards for Residential Docks on the Highland Lakes, covering flotation, lighting, access, anchoring and maximum distance from shore — measured from the current shoreline, wherever water meets land. Dilapidated docks are not allowed.
2
How far out is a lake-by-lake number
The maximum extension is not one figure for the whole chain. Across the Highland Lakes it ranges from 35 to 150 feet depending on the lake, and the value LCRA assigns to Marble Falls should be confirmed with them rather than assumed from a neighbouring lake.
3
Bulkheads and dredging fall under the 2022 ordinance
Bulkheads, seawalls, retaining walls, dredging, filling, boat ramps, boat slips, canal excavation and pier construction below the regulated pool are governed by the Highland Lakes Dredge and Fill Ordinance, effective January 1, 2022. Tier I is written notification and no permit; Tier II requires an LCRA permit at 500 cubic yards or 500 linear feet of shoreline and above.
4
Commercial dredge and fill is not available here
Tier III is allowed only in designated zones on Lakes Buchanan and LBJ. Marinas need their own permit under the Highland Lakes Marina Ordinance, updated May 24, 2023, which bans new community marinas. LCRA inspects both on schedule and unannounced, and City of Marble Falls building permits and Burnet County floodplain review apply above the waterline.
737.0′
Conservation pool, ft msl
0.8′
LCRA target operating band
613
Surface acres, TWDB 2020
1,500
Sq ft dock, no LCRA permit
Around the Lake
Bluffs, boulders and a shoreline that is nearly all private.
Steep rock rather than soil — which changes how everything gets founded.
Marble Falls is narrow and riverine, walled by limestone bluffs and boulders. Aquatic vegetation, standing timber and fallen logs are limited, and the water runs clear to slightly stained. Rock banks generally mean drilled or pinned foundations rather than driven pile, and terraced retaining walls rather than a fill-behind bulkhead. Nearly the whole shoreline is private residential or city frontage, and TPWD notes that a scattering of docks and boat houses already rings the water's edge.
Communities on the water
- Marble Falls
- Meadowlakes — gated golf community with waterfront homes and private docks
- Cottonwood Shores — between Wirtz Dam and Marble Falls, fronting both Lake LBJ and Lake Marble Falls
City parks and public ramps
- Johnson Park — public ramp, restrooms, picnic area and playground
- Lakeside Park — public ramp, restrooms, swimming pool, basketball and tennis
- Falls Creek Park
- All three sit adjacent to one another west of the US 281 bridge on the north side
Shoretech Marine is based in Trinity, Texas. Lake Marble Falls is inside the working footprint and Dave travels as far as a project warrants across Texas and western Louisiana.
Questions We Hear
Lake Marble Falls FAQ.
Do I need an LCRA permit for a dock on Lake Marble Falls?
Not for a residential dock of 1,500 square feet or less — no permit, no registration and no fee. It must still meet LCRA's Safety Standards for Residential Docks on the Highland Lakes, covering flotation, lighting, access, anchoring and maximum distance from shore. That maximum is set lake by lake, ranging from 35 to 150 feet across the chain, so confirm the Marble Falls figure with LCRA. Dilapidated docks are not allowed.
What about a retaining wall, bulkhead or dredging?
A different rule entirely: the Highland Lakes Dredge and Fill Ordinance, effective January 1, 2022. Tier I is written notification with no permit, for non-commercial work under 500 cubic yards or 500 linear feet of shoreline. Tier II needs an LCRA permit at or above those thresholds. Tier III commercial dredge and fill is confined to designated zones on Lake Buchanan and Lake LBJ — not here.
How much does Lake Marble Falls rise and fall?
Very little. LCRA operates it between 736.2 and 737.0 feet above mean sea level — under a foot of normal movement. Conservation storage is only 7,597 acre-feet, so it works as a pass-through pool between Wirtz and Starcke dams rather than as a storage reservoir.
Can pilings be driven into a limestone bank?
Usually not in the ordinary sense. The shoreline is rock bluff and boulder rather than soil, so foundations are generally drilled and pinned into rock, and bank work runs to terraced retaining walls rather than a fill-behind bulkhead. That changes equipment, access and sequencing.
Nearby Water
The rest of the Highland Lakes.
Start With a Conversation
Planning a project on Lake Marble Falls?
Tell Dave how the bank falls away, how much frontage you have and what you want to be able to do at the water. On a lake this steady, the design question is nearly always the rock.