 Operations of the spillway mirror river flows, so within a relatively short period of time, increase of river flow discharge is increased, and vice versa.On September 23, 2005, rain and winds from Hurricane Rita caused waves up to 4 feet (1 m) in height to pound against the Lake Livingston dam.As a result, 11,000 feet (3.4 km) of large protective stones, or riprap, were stripped from the upstream face of the dam.