Posted: Sat, 19 May 2012 08:41 AM - 16,498 Readers

By: Ignacio Garcia

As water levels rise, so do people looking for action on or above the lake. The hard rains over the last couple of weeks have been great news for many lake businesses

Albert Hupp and Hawkeye Roth are going over final checks before the busy weekend on Lake Travis.

Hupp is a dock hand in charge of cleaning, maintenance and everything inbetween. It's a job he's enjoying with some fun perks.

"I love the lake. I live out here at Lake Travis my whole life," said Hupp. "I mean there's other jobs you can do that's more lucrative but you can't enjoy this any more."

Hupp is part of an increasing number of hires Just for Fun has brought on for the summer season. As they transition from spring to summer, they usually increase their staff by several dozen.

R oth is the operations manager but he also wears a captain's hat at Just for Fun.

"In the winter we have a staff of about seven," said Roth. "As the season kicks in, we start adding people and we'll get to a staff of about 50 people and that's not counting our barge drivers."

Tracking north on the lake but not on the water, the staffing is very similar.

20 stories above the lake level, folks at Lake Travis Zipline Adventures have already hired 15 staffers for the summer and they could even hire some more.

"We're expecting a record Saturday -- we're going to zip about 228 people -- that will be a record day for us, said Jay Birchard of Lake Travis Zipline Adventures.

As summer heats up, so does the job market. A little more rain this summer will only make things more lush and green (for nature and businesses).

*  Story Contributed by: Ignacio Garcia