I know you folks went thru a drought last year and maybe even before that. How much did your lakes drop during that period? I am only asking to try and compare it to our drought and lake levels which are nearing record all time lows.
Texas Boaters......water levels during your drought?
- Thread starter Dave S
- Start date
shrike
New Member
- Dec 10, 2006
- 69
When it is dry here, you just can not use some lakes due to boat ramps not reaching the water, hills and shoals appearing which block off the marina, and some slips get grounded and you can not retrieve the boat.
http://texasscribbler.com/images/VanishingLake.JPG
good video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT2cIzHnX5s
(edit - there is one picture I can't find that is really haunting. It is a marina with covered slips, on the dry ground, boats still in their slips, and the whole thing is overgrown with weeds....by the time they realised how bad it would get, they could not get the boats out. some in the 40' size.)
Some lakes get shut down by texas parks and wildlife or US Army Corps of Eng. due to safety issues, or high bacteria / unsafe water chemistry.
What is low? 20' or so is not uncommon, some with rivers fare a bit better.
but we also have some constant level lakes with power plants like the one I live on. Worst it has been is about 3' low - cause if it drops, the power plant shuts down. so there are other lakes that feed mine. Some are river lakes too, and they fluxuate about 1' over the entire year - drought or not. cept for the bad floods we had this year, where they can not release fast enough.
When I was living south of Houston, it was never really a problem, as we had the Gulf of Mexico.
But south, the Rio Grande does not flow enough to crest over Boca Chica and run into the Gulf. (Mexico and US farmers tap into it for irrigation) and it kind of runs a bit dry.
but here is an idea of this year..... the opposite problem that kept many from enjoying the water yet again, and decimated the boating / marina restaurants, etc. due to of course the damage, but also the financial impact.
there are a few before and after pics of the Islands at Texoma. 2005 you can see them clearly. 2007 is only tree tops.
http://www.pbase.com/ethanbird/lake_texoma_flooding_july_4th_7th_2007
In texas it is very cyclical. dry years, and very wet years. We just have to deal with them. It occurs often.
http://texasscribbler.com/images/VanishingLake.JPG
good video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT2cIzHnX5s
(edit - there is one picture I can't find that is really haunting. It is a marina with covered slips, on the dry ground, boats still in their slips, and the whole thing is overgrown with weeds....by the time they realised how bad it would get, they could not get the boats out. some in the 40' size.)
Some lakes get shut down by texas parks and wildlife or US Army Corps of Eng. due to safety issues, or high bacteria / unsafe water chemistry.
What is low? 20' or so is not uncommon, some with rivers fare a bit better.
but we also have some constant level lakes with power plants like the one I live on. Worst it has been is about 3' low - cause if it drops, the power plant shuts down. so there are other lakes that feed mine. Some are river lakes too, and they fluxuate about 1' over the entire year - drought or not. cept for the bad floods we had this year, where they can not release fast enough.
When I was living south of Houston, it was never really a problem, as we had the Gulf of Mexico.
But south, the Rio Grande does not flow enough to crest over Boca Chica and run into the Gulf. (Mexico and US farmers tap into it for irrigation) and it kind of runs a bit dry.
but here is an idea of this year..... the opposite problem that kept many from enjoying the water yet again, and decimated the boating / marina restaurants, etc. due to of course the damage, but also the financial impact.
there are a few before and after pics of the Islands at Texoma. 2005 you can see them clearly. 2007 is only tree tops.
http://www.pbase.com/ethanbird/lake_texoma_flooding_july_4th_7th_2007
In texas it is very cyclical. dry years, and very wet years. We just have to deal with them. It occurs often.
Last edited:
BON DIA
Member
- Oct 5, 2006
- 356
- Boat Info
- '05 340DA, C80 w/ 2KW Radar
- Engines
- 6.2s w/Vdrive
Lake Travis is full at 681'...in '05 & '06 we operated 20 to 37' below full...~ 55% full....lots of hull & drive damage...sales & usage declined...very few public ramps in the water...numerous marinas had to relocated, some without elec & water, owners had to be shuttled to their boats....then it started raining in Dec'06 & within months we were full & rising into the flood plain.....late June '07 it poured 20" above the lake & it rose to 704' & lake was closed for a couple of weeks. Fortunately Mansfield Dam can release water thru flood gates & electric generation thus it can be lowered slowly if downstream conditions will allow. The lake re-openned in mid July & all has been OK since.
270mike
New Member
lake guntersville will very 1-3' during the summer,theywill lower it for weed control spraying around boatramps ,boathouses,ect. or heavy rain from up north.
Thanks for your replies. It sounds like your drought created lake conditions that were worse than ours.
Unfortunately our lakes here are not that deep to begin with so water drops of any consequences are a big problem. With a La Nina influencing our weather now, no one expects a lot of rain any time soon. Water levels on our lake are almost 6 feet down right now. All ramps on our lake are closed save for one. Duke Power (which controls lake levels on most lakes along the Catawba River basin since they operate power plants all along the basin) has dropped our lake considerably over the last week without communicating this ahead of time to any of the businesses along the lake such as the Marinas. Now our Marina is (unforunately) at the point where they can't get a lot of the boats out of the water anymore even if they wanted to. If we drop another 18 inches, my boat's keel will be on the bottom. I am hoping that won't happen but I am afraid we will all have to live with the possible consequences now. :smt009
Unfortunately our lakes here are not that deep to begin with so water drops of any consequences are a big problem. With a La Nina influencing our weather now, no one expects a lot of rain any time soon. Water levels on our lake are almost 6 feet down right now. All ramps on our lake are closed save for one. Duke Power (which controls lake levels on most lakes along the Catawba River basin since they operate power plants all along the basin) has dropped our lake considerably over the last week without communicating this ahead of time to any of the businesses along the lake such as the Marinas. Now our Marina is (unforunately) at the point where they can't get a lot of the boats out of the water anymore even if they wanted to. If we drop another 18 inches, my boat's keel will be on the bottom. I am hoping that won't happen but I am afraid we will all have to live with the possible consequences now. :smt009
Last edited:
BON DIA
Member
- Oct 5, 2006
- 356
- Boat Info
- '05 340DA, C80 w/ 2KW Radar
- Engines
- 6.2s w/Vdrive
Even when Lake Travis was at its lowest, the main channel was 120' deep & many of the normally submerged islands that surfaced made great new anchorages so all in all, if your boat was on the lake vs having to be ramp launched or your marina was re-located & hard to get too, the loss of 40% of water by volume was not a problem.
Last edited:
shrike
New Member
- Dec 10, 2006
- 69
the video of lavon shows a lake that is not that deep to begin with. maybe 40' at the dam
another problem is we in north tx get all our drinking water from lakes, so our tap water smells like old pond water when lake levels get real low!
reverse osmosis systems anyone!??!!
at least in san antonio, water still comes from underground aquafer. but I do not live there now.
Very jealous of the austin gang!
another problem is we in north tx get all our drinking water from lakes, so our tap water smells like old pond water when lake levels get real low!
reverse osmosis systems anyone!??!!
at least in san antonio, water still comes from underground aquafer. but I do not live there now.
Very jealous of the austin gang!
Last edited:
ruf1967
New Member
The new RO plant is about to startup soon here in Wichita Falls. It will draw water from Lake Kemp which is normally too salty for normal filtration methods.
