Posted: Mon, 20 Jun 2011 10:40 AM - 9,695 Readers

By: Quita Culpepper

Water levels are dropping rapidly in the Highland Lakes. The Llano and Perdenales rivers have essentially dried up. That means hardly any water is going into the Highland Lakes right now. A severe lack of rain and blistering heat has Lake Travis slowly evaporating away.
Video taken by the LCRA shows the Sometimes Islands are clearly visible as the lake continues to go down. Monday it was at 647.4 feet, just 55 percent full. Lake Buchanan is 64 percent full.
 
There are only two public boat ramps still open, and Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) officials are not sure how long that will last during our projected long hot summer.  
 
“Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan are currently dropping at about 1.4 feet per week,” said Bob Rose of the LCRA. “This is because of the lack of inflows increased evaporation and water use by our customers. The LCRA is now projecting the level of Lake Travis by Sept. 1 will be somewhere in the range of 635 to 640, and the level of Lake Buchanan will be somewhere between 990 and 995.”
          
Now the risk of injury for boaters, water skiers, and swimmers is on the rise as once-hidden hazards in the lake make their way to the surface.
 
Video from the LCRA shows structures and pilings from construction in the 1930s clearly visible just underneath the water's surface. Large rocks are also peeking through the now more shallow water.
 
“You hit that at high speed, people are going to be thrown out into the water,” said Chief Don Brent of the LCRA.
 
The sudden appearance of these sandbars makes it easy for boaters to run aground. Many already have.
 
“We've had a lot of one boat accidents with people running aground," said Brent. "Some of them were reported to us, others we're just hearing about. We've had one serious accident so far this summer with one boat running aground that threw people into the water, and several of them were young children.”
 
The LCRA cautions swimmers to stay alert in the water as well.
 
“Swimmers can be walking out on that sandbar and within a couple of feet they can step off into deep water,” Chief Brent said.
 
The LCRA is working to mark as many hazards as it can, but say there are so many, it is impossible to mark them all.
 
The LCRA's advice to boaters and swimmers is to be cautious, wear your personal floatation device at all times, and do not leave your common sense at home.
 
More than a million Central Texans depend on the lower Colorado River for their water supply. The LCRA says there is plenty of water to meet our needs for now, but conservation is key. Farmers have already been asked to cut back on their water use by at least five percent.

*  Story Contributed by: Quita Culpepper