Boathouses & Covered Slips
Single-level covered structures laid out inside the 1,500-square-foot cap, with lifts, lighting and storm-rated substructure.
Lakes We Serve · Northeast Texas
Boathouses, docks and bulkheads on Lake Tawakoni.
On Tawakoni your deed stops before the water does. Every private structure here stands on Sabine River Authority ground under a permit with real dimensional limits — and that permit shapes the design long before anyone orders a pile.
Before Anything Is Ordered
Your lot line ends about nine and a half feet above the water.
The Sabine River Authority of Texas owns the strip between conservation pool and the project boundary — and that strip is exactly where a dock goes.
Lake Tawakoni sits on the headwaters of the Sabine River — the Cowleech, South and Caddo forks — impounded by Iron Bridge Dam across Hunt, Rains and Van Zandt counties. Construction began in January 1958 and finished in October 1960, and the reservoir first reached its conservation pool of 437.5 feet above mean sea level on February 11, 1965. Published surface acreage genuinely disagrees: the Texas Water Development Board's 2009 volumetric survey gives about 37,325 acres, the Sabine River Authority says approximately 36,700, and TPWD lists 37,879.
The ownership line is not ambiguous. The SRA holds the land between conservation pool at 437.5 msl and the project boundary at 447 msl — generally the 447 contour, or a minimum of 200 horizontal feet out from the 437.5 contour, though the legal description is actually metes and bounds rather than a clean elevation. So a private dock, boathouse, pier or retaining wall here does not stand on your property. It stands on Authority land, and it requires a Private Limited Use Permit. Commercial facilities require a Commercial Limited Use Permit instead.
Under the Rules and Regulations the SRA Board adopted on June 19, 2025, a detailed site plan showing the permit area, the conservation pool elevation and all property lines must be approved before any work starts; SRA then issues a written Authorization to Construct. Contractors must carry liability coverage naming the Authority as additional insured with a waiver of subrogation. The Lake Tawakoni Division office is at 169 RS County Road 1480, Point, TX 75472, 903-598-2216.
437.5′
Conservation pool, ft msl
447′
SRA project boundary
1,500
Sq ft cap, boathouse or pier
150′
Max extension, or 20% of cove
The Rulebook
What a Tawakoni permit actually allows.
These are the constraints the SRA rules place on private structures. They are specific, and they are the reason a design that works on a private lake does not simply transfer here.
1
Single level, not habitable, 1,500 square feet
Boathouses and piers must be single level and may not be habitable, with the footprint capped at 1,500 square feet excluding the walkway — enough for a real covered slip and deck, tight enough that the layout has to be decided rather than sprawled.
2
150 feet out, or a fifth of the cove
Extension may not exceed 150 feet from the conservation pool elevation, or 20 percent of the width of the cove, whichever is less. On a tight cove the second number governs — and it is the one owners most often have not accounted for.
3
Approved materials, encapsulated flotation
Everything touching water and all structural framing must be steel, treated wood or another approved material. Flotation must be encapsulated foam; bare Styrofoam blocks are prohibited outright, which rules out much of what comes on cheaper float packages.
4
Walls and dredging are discretionary
Retaining walls, excavation and dredging happen only at the discretion of the Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and must comply with any Corps-issued permit. Dredging may not bring conservation pool within 200 feet of the project boundary, spoil goes above conservation pool behind erosion control, slopes finish no steeper than 4:1, and wall materials are pre-approved.
What the Rig Hits
Soft banks, long fetch, and a lake that moves several feet a year.
Tawakoni is a big, open, wind-swept water-supply reservoir built for the City of Dallas, about an hour east of it.
The bottom is clay and sand. Flooded timber exists but is not abundant — scattered pockets rather than the wall-to-wall standing timber of Lake Fork — and aquatic vegetation is sparse. The water runs moderately stained, the dam embankment is armored with stone riprap, and TPWD lists maximum depth at roughly 70 feet.
The condition that drives most shoreline work here is fetch. Tawakoni is wide and open, and wind builds real chop across the main lake before it lands on exposed points and shallow clay banks. Soft clay in front of a long fetch erodes and keeps eroding, which is why bulkhead and retaining wall demand on this lake is steady rather than occasional.
The second condition is vertical. Annual fluctuation runs roughly 3 to 9 feet, so slip depth, gangway geometry, flotation range and the elevation a walkway lands at all get sized to that swing rather than to the level on the day of the site visit.
Scope of Work
What Shoretech builds on Lake Tawakoni.
Each of these is designed inside the SRA limits above, and detailed for clay banks and a multi-foot annual swing.
Boat Docks, Piers & Walkways
Fixed and floating docks with approach walkways sized for the swing, and extension checked against both the 150-foot limit and the cove rule.
Bulkheads, Seawalls & Retaining Walls
Galvanized steel, vinyl, FRP composite and heavy timber walls for eroding clay banks on the exposed side of a long fetch.
Precision Dredging
Slip and access dredging under SRA and Corps discretion, with spoil placed above conservation pool behind erosion control.
Around the Lake
Where the waterfront is.
Tawakoni is heavily subdivided by East Texas standards — West Tawakoni, East Tawakoni, Point and the Quinlan shore are largely platted lots fronting Authority land.
Towns and communities
- Point
- West Tawakoni
- East Tawakoni
- Quinlan
- Wills Point
- Lone Oak
- Emory
- Greenville, about 15 miles northwest
Parks, ramps and marinas
- Lake Tawakoni State Park, near Wills Point
- SRA Holiday Recreation Area
- SRA public boat ramp
- 429 Marina & Resort, near Quinlan
- Walnut Cove Marina & Resort, Quinlan
- Tawakoni Marina
- Five further public ramps
Shoreline mileage on Tawakoni is commonly repeated as about 200 miles, but neither the Sabine River Authority nor the Texas Water Development Board publishes a figure, so treat it as approximate. Shoretech Marine is based in Trinity, Texas; Lake Tawakoni is inside the working footprint and Dave travels as far as a project warrants.
Questions We Hear
Lake Tawakoni FAQ.
Who permits a dock or boathouse on Lake Tawakoni?
The Sabine River Authority of Texas, from its Lake Tawakoni Division office in Point at 903-598-2216. Private structures need a Private Limited Use Permit and commercial facilities need a Commercial Limited Use Permit. An approved site plan comes first, then SRA issues a written Authorization to Construct.
How big can a boathouse be on Lake Tawakoni?
1,500 square feet excluding the walkway, single level, and not habitable. Extension is capped at 150 feet from the conservation pool elevation or 20 percent of the cove width, whichever is less — on a narrow cove the cove governs, not the 150 feet.
Can I dredge or build a retaining wall on Lake Tawakoni?
Both are discretionary, and both involve the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as well as the Authority. Wall materials are pre-approved, spoil is placed above conservation pool behind erosion control, and finished slopes may be no steeper than 4:1.
Does the water level on Lake Tawakoni move enough to matter?
TPWD calls annual fluctuation on Tawakoni considerable, roughly 3 to 9 feet. Anything detailed only for full pool spends part of most years out of the water, so slip depth, flotation range and walkway geometry get sized to the swing.
Will Dave travel to Lake Tawakoni?
Yes. Shoretech Marine is based in Trinity and Dave travels as far as a project warrants across Texas and western Louisiana. Call 936-662-5100 to talk it through. If you are not sure who holds the bank in front of your lot, start with Can I build on my lake?
Nearby Water
More Northeast Texas lakes.
Start With a Conversation
Planning a project on Lake Tawakoni?
Tell Dave where your frontage sits, how wide the cove is, and what you want to be able to do at the water. The permit path and the design come out of that conversation together.