Boat Docks, Piers & Gangways
Floating docks, hinged gangways and long approach walkways engineered to reach the water from a bluff lot at any lake level.
Lakes We Serve · Hill Country, TX
Boat docks, gangways and retaining walls on Medina Lake.
Medina is a private-district lake with steep limestone banks and the widest water-level swing in the region. What gets built here has to survive the range — and it has to clear a landowner most people have never heard of.
Before Anything Else
On Medina Lake, the first question is where your property actually ends.
A private irrigation district owns this lake — not the Corps of Engineers, and not a state river authority.
Medina Lake is owned and operated by the Bexar-Medina-Atascosa Counties Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 — BMA, an irrigation district headquartered in Natalia. That one fact separates Medina from nearly every other lake in Central Texas. There is no federal shoreline management plan here and no river-authority dock counter. Texas Parks & Wildlife also lists the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District as sharing control of the lake.
BMA asserts ownership of the land below elevation 1,084 feet, and exactly where that line falls against a given deeded lot has been argued for years — the question reached the Texas Supreme Court in Lance v. Robinson in 2018. Before anything is ordered for a shoreline structure, the boundary needs to be confirmed and BMA's written consent obtained. Layered on top of that is a floodplain development permit from Bandera County or Medina County, depending on which side of the lake the property sits on.
Shoretech does not guess at that sequence. Dave works the ownership and consent question first, in writing, and designs to whatever answer comes back — including whether a covered structure can be authorized at all on the ground in front of your lot.
Engineering for the Range
A lake that moves forty feet.
TPWD documents swings of up to 40 feet on Medina. The limestone bottom leaks into the Edwards Aquifer even at full pool, and the recent record shows how far the water can travel: near 2 percent of capacity in May 2025, still only 9 percent on July 7, 2026, then 29.8 percent by August 7, 2026 — roughly 42 feet below the 1,064.2-foot conservation pool. A structure designed around one water line spends most of its life stranded.
1
Walkways and gangways that stay walkable
Medina lots are typically steep bluff sites with the house well above the water. Reaching the lake means engineered walkways and hinged gangways sized so the slope works across the range, not just on the day of the site visit.
2
Floating structures over fixed decks
Where vertical travel is this large, a float that tracks the surface beats a fixed deck built to an elevation the lake may not see again for years. Anchoring, restraint and utility routing are designed for the full excursion.
3
Ground above the water line
Retaining walls, slope stabilization and erosion control on private ground above BMA's boundary do not wait on lake level, and do not stop when the water drops. On steep limestone lots that work is often the priority.
4
Honest condition assessment first
A rising lake after a long drawdown exposes exactly what the drought did. Pilings, connections, hardware and decking that sat dry for years get evaluated before anything new is rebuilt on top of them.
Scope of Work
What Shoretech can build on Medina Lake.
Every service below is designed to this lake's vertical range and its limestone banks.
Retaining Walls & Erosion Control
Slope stabilization and retaining walls on private ground above the district's line — steel, vinyl, FRP composite or heavy timber, matched to rock and soil conditions.
Boathouses & Covered Slips
Whether a covered structure can be authorized on Medina depends on BMA's answer for your frontage. Dave settles that question in writing first, then designs to it.
Precision Dredging
Slip and access dredging with material pumped for backfill reuse rather than trucked off — practical while the lake is low.
Around the Lake
Eighteen miles of canyon shoreline.
Impounded in 1913 and running about 110 miles of shoreline, Medina reaches roughly 152 feet deep, with steep rocky banks, sparse vegetation and long creek arms.
Communities we serve here
- Lakehills
- Mico
- Lake Medina Shores
- Pipe Creek
- Bandera
- Scenic Harbor Estates
Typical Medina projects
- Bluff-lot walkways
- Hinged gangways
- Floating docks
- Retaining walls
- Slope stabilization
- Dock repair and rebuild
Medina spans Bandera and Medina counties on the Medina River, in the San Antonio River basin. Published full-pool acreage varies by source, somewhere in the range of 5,500 to 6,000 acres.
Questions We Hear
Medina Lake FAQ.
Who actually permits a dock on Medina Lake?
Not the Corps and not a river authority. BMA — the Bexar-Medina-Atascosa Counties Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 — owns and operates the lake, and its consent governs the ground below elevation 1,084 feet. A county floodplain development permit from Bandera or Medina County applies as well. Because the district does not publish a standard shoreline application the way a river authority does, Shoretech confirms the current process with BMA directly rather than assuming one.
My deed says my lot runs to the water. Doesn't that settle it?
It has not settled it for other owners. The boundary between deeded lots and district land has been litigated repeatedly, reaching the Texas Supreme Court in Lance v. Robinson in 2018. Get the line confirmed and BMA's consent in hand before construction money is spent — a structure built on contested ground is the most expensive mistake available on this lake.
The lake is far below full. Is this a bad time to build?
For shoreline and bank work, often the opposite. Low water makes retaining wall, slope and foundation work reachable from dry ground and lets you see exactly what condition existing pilings are in. What it does change is design: everything gets sized for the water coming back, not for where it sits today.
Will Dave travel to Medina Lake?
Yes. Shoretech is based in Trinity and Dave travels as far as a project warrants across Texas and western Louisiana. Call 936-662-5100 to talk through access, scope and scheduling for your frontage.
Nearby Water
More Hill Country lakes.
Start With a Conversation
Planning a project on Medina Lake?
Tell Dave where your lot sits, how far the bank drops, and what you want to be able to do at the water. The design — and the permitting path — follows from there.