Lake Meredith

Lake Meredith is a reservoir formed by Sanford Dam on the Canadian River at Sanford, Texas. It is located about 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Amarillo, Texas in the Texas Panhandle. It historically was a major source of drinking water for Amarillo and Lubbock, Texas, located about 150 miles (240 km) to the south along with many other towns in between and nearby. In 2003, the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority announced that it would reduce allocations to its member cities due to an ongoing drought and a continued drop in the water level in the reservoir. As of 2008, the lake continued to hit record lows, and the majority of water supplied by CRMWA is now coming from wells in Roberts County. In 2011 water withdrawals from Lake Meredith ceased, on 09 April 2012 the lake reached its all time low 29.80 feet, and as of 16 April 2012 the lake's depth was 31.37 feet with a volume of 24,424 acre-feet (3.1% of capacity). The record high capacity was in April 1973 when the lake was 101.85 ft deep.

On June 1, 2008 the remains of a Beechcraft Skipper were discovered in the receding lake. The plane, reported missing on January 27, 1984, was on a two-hour flight carrying the pilot, Steven Lampe, 25 and Larry Lucas, both of Amarillo, TX. There were no eye witnessess to the crash.

Much of the political credit for the establishment of Lake Meredith has gone to the late State Senator Grady Hazlewood of Amarillo.