With the lake holding at about 643, I've begun hearing rumors that if we dip under 640 that it's likely that many marinas will close. Has anybody heard anything specific to Emerald Point and the marinas/dry stacks there? This would suck out loud.
you are referring to lake travis. lake austin is constant level, as is Inks, LBJ, and Lady Bird. dipping below 640 is likely be end of the month. i've lived in austin 25 years and its only happened once. hopefully the rain upriver today will help.
As of today the lake level is 640ft.The Link No rain forecast for next 7 days. This summer is shaping up as one for the record books for Central Texas.
My marina was still very operable Saturday. They say they have no plans to close. Just makes for MUCH smaller crowds out there. Pretty nice actually.
I've heard this may be last weekend it is open. Lake level is currently right at 640. 47% full. www.lcra.org/water/conditions/river_report.html We may get some rain this weekend. And probably get more here or there. But I seriously doubt we get anything significant until the fall. With levels dropping over a foot a week you have to think we'll be significantly lower by September.
now is as good a time as any to extend boat ramps. sure they're not likely to be used but once every 20 years or so... but extend your ramps now and pay it off by charging $10 to drop and park.
3rd lowest level in its history: 1. 614.18' August 1951 2. 615.02' November 1963 3. 636.32' August 2009 4. 636.58' October 1984 Falling at a rate of 2 feet/week it is projected to be below 630 feet by Labor Day.
Can anyone tell me why that even though we're one of the driest 22-month periods in Austin history, we're still about 20ft away from the record? Especially when you consider the population difference between today and 1950s.
The level has more to do with just how much rain we are getting. Plus not just rain in Austin but we need rain further upstream. The temperatures during those time periods can affect evaporation. We have been a severe heat period lately that has caused severe evaporation. Plus there may have been difference in the release schedule of water further down stream at that point in time though that is just speculation. At higher lake levels it takes longer for the water level to fall b/c there is larger surface area and water volume. As the water level has declined the surface area and lake volume has also declined. Earlier in May/June the level was falling about a foot a week. Now it is falling about 2 feet/week. It will fall even faster if these conditions continue. Lake level is currently at 635 and falling fast. At a loss rate of 2 feet/week we could easily be near 628 by Labor Day. If we don't see significant rain by then that is. If conditions stay that way through September you could see us less than 620 feet by end of September. At that point we are getting very close to those all time lows. We are currently in one of the most severe droughts on record in Austin. Not the longest but one of the worst. The hope is that it doesn't last past this fall otherwise we are in for some real water rationing on a large scale.
That 20 feet sounds like alot but realize how fast it is falling now. It is falling about a foot every 3 days. When lake level was higher the volume of the lake was significantly higher. How that the level is lower the volume is also significantly lower which means that it is dropping faster now. 20 feet seems like it is far off but we will lose the next 20 feet in less than 2 months at this current pace. We are expecting rain in October and we just don't know when we are going to get the rain before then. All boat ramps now closed officially as of yesterday. Lake Travis level is now 634 and is 43% full.
So two years ago the lake was full. Now it is below 50% capacity. If this drought lasts two more years the lake could theoretically be dry. What would happen? I can't see how the city could haul in enough water for basics.
It won't but yeh that would be horrible. But Lake Travis is not the real problem. There are many people who depend on well water that is dry or just about to be dry. I heard in Gtown they are pumping out of the Lake there to meet the needs of the people there but they don't do that in Lake Travis.
