Drought conditions taking toll on Texas lakes

Posted: Tue, 21 Jun 2011 10:33 AM - 10,162 Readers

The boat ramps at Lake Medina just seem to go on and on. What used to be only a few feet to the water are now hundreds of feet and getting further every day. While Medina is by far the lowest of the area lakes, it isn't alone in its shrinking shoreline.

Medina Lake is down almost 30 feet, Canyon Lake is down 5 feet, Lake Buchanan is down 14 feet; even Lake Travis is down 34 feet.

The summer drought has depleted these reservoirs one by one, with areas of shoreline exposed for the sun for the first time in two years.

Across the state, the combined totals of Texas's reservoirs are down to 71.8 percent, a decline of almost five percent since May 22, with lake levels dropping a combine 2,700,000 feet.

For businesses at Medina Lake, the disappearing lake would normally put a major dent in businesses as vacations look for other places to go.

However, with gas prices high and the summer heat unrelenting, boaters and swimmers are still showing up at the lake looking for a way to stay cool, even if there is less water.

With more than half of the state listed in severe or exceptional drought, just about every community is seeing what water it has dry up. In San Antonio only .88 inches of rain fell last month, the second-driest period since 1885.

* Story Contributed by: Christopher Heath

[edit]

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