My brother and I are building some condos to drop in some of the area lakes here pretty soon. He mentioned that we have to get approval from TPWD and/or the Corp of Engineer in order to do so. I've been searching the web and can't find anything on this subject. Is this true? Do we have to get approval to drop condos on any lakes or do certain lakes require approval? Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

Well, let's see here. If I was going to sink something like 150+ condos/bp's in a lake (let's say Lewisville), I wouldn't ask the Corps for permission because they would never give it to you. You may get approval if you were with a group like Boy Scouts or some fishing club but still a PITA. TPWD doesn't care but they have no jurisdiction over the Corp lakes. They may not ticket you but may mention something to the Corp.

So if it were me doing something that is illegal, I would probably do it early in the morning while everyone was asleep and not use a manned launch site (they work for the Corp).

I might also advise that you don't use an Igloo cooler that you find on the side of the road as a bucket. They tend to float even with 50lbs of concrete in them and will not sink until cutting off the plastic cover and then shaving off most of the insulation. All that time wasted may just mean that the sun comes up or other people start noticing what you are doing.

Thanks BlueNitro. I appreciate the info.

Some lakes do require approval, its a city lake or a lake owend by Tarrant County Regional Water Supply. I would ask first. You can also talk to a TPWD wildlife biologists. They can help you as well.

We put out 270 condo in 27 location on Pines, we had to get the Corp of Engineer ok and the help of the TPWD to do it.
It best if you get there approval.