Posted: Sun, 2 Aug 2009 10:44 AM - 6,576 Readers
By: David Barron
Lake Travis is becoming a lake in name only, regressing in some areas almost to the old Colorado River channel and in others leaving hundreds of yards of dry, cracked lake bed strewn with discarded fishing rods, beer cans and golf balls, and boathouses and docks to nowhere.
“We should leave a bottle down here saying, ‘We walked here in '09,” Austin appliance repairman Bill Cosby said, as he picked his way through what used to be the lake's Hurst Creek section.
In New Braunfels, visitors preparing to tube down some stretches of the Comal or Guadalupe rivers — especially those of a certain size and girth — are advised to take particular caution.
“If you're not careful, there are several places where your butt could hit the bottom,” said J.R. Perez of New Braunfels.
Across Austin and Central Texas, the great drought of 2009 and its accompanying record high temperatures are taking their toll on recreational activities. Only one public boat ramp remains open on Lake Travis, and fewer than a dozen trailers were parked Saturday morning near the Mansfield Dam.
“It can be dangerous,” said Max Thompson, 71, of Austin as he and his wife, Jane, prepared for an exploratory cruise around the lake. “The water is low in places, and you don't know what's there. I've been here since 1967, and it's as bad as I've seen it.”
But in some areas, thanks in part to the equally unsettled nature of the regional economy, business is just fine. Even with the water flow reduced to a trickle, Pedernales Falls State Park is booked to capacity this weekend. At Corner Tubes in New Braunfels, Joe Breads expects to rent hundreds of inner tubes, at $10 to $20 a pop, to Sunday afternoon floaters. State parks report booming business.
However, patience is the watchword of the day — in fact, for the next several days and weeks. It took the better part of two years for the drought to tighten its grip on Central Texas, and, even when the rains arrive, recovery will come slowly.
In the meantime, longtime Central Texas residents are marveling at what they see and don't see at familiar landmarks.
At Pedernales Falls State Park outside Johnson City in Blanco County, signs warning visitors to beware of flash floods on the Pedernales River are a quaint joke in light of current conditions.
“I've never seen it this low, never seen creeks go completely dry,” said Delores Fenton, who has worked at the park for 19 years. “They say we're getting close to the way it was back in the 1950s.”
Park still popular
The sound of rushing water still greets visitors to the falls, but it's from water meandering its way through the exposed rocks, not rushing over them. Still, guests like James and Sharon McMillan of Tyler are enjoying their two-week camping trip.
“We're still able to go in the river,” James McMillan said. “It's still a cool place to be.”
Fenton said all of the park's 60-plus campsites were booked this weekend, and the park remains open for camping, hiking, biking and swimming.
A few miles downstream as the Pedernales approaches Lake Travis, however, it's a dry riverbed. Viewed from the Highway 71 bridge, a road sign and a string of docks and boathouses are the only sign a river ever existed.
At the Hurst Creek end of the lake, just below Lakeway's city park, luxurious houses overlook dry land littered with orphaned docks and scattered debris.
Johnny Fins floating restaurant, which was anchored at the Hurst Harbor Marina, was moved in mid-July about a mile to the east as the water receded.
“I was fishing here six weeks ago, and now it's bone-dry,” said Cosby, who walked along the lake bed Friday afternoon while killing time between appliance repair jobs.
“I've seen it being low in 1997 and 2005, but nothing like this. But it will come back — at least, it always has so far,” he said.
Meteorologists are pinning their hopes of improvement on a possible El Niño weather pattern, in which warming conditions in the eastern Pacific Ocean can produce heavy rains across the southwestern U.S. in November and December. Austin's average temperature in July was 89.5 degrees, with 26 days of 100-degree heat and only 0.25 inches of rain.
Until El Niño comes around, the practical duties of keeping the option of boat traffic at Lake Travis' only remaining public ramp falls to district manager Dan Perry and his colleagues in the Travis County Parks system.
Perry said the lake's level is dropping 1 foot to 2 feet each week. Mansfield Dam's spillway level is at 714 feet, the record high at the dam is 711, and the lake is considered full at 681 feet. Its current level is 636 feet, about 30 feet below normal for this time of year.
Boat traffic suffers
As the water continues to drop, Perry said workers will do what they can to extend the boat ramp.
“I think we can go another to 15 feet vertical, and after that we get to the river channel,” he said. “So we'll chase it as far as we can.”
After his excursion on the lake Friday, Max Thompson isn't sure how much longer boat traffic will be worthwhile. As the lake level drops, a collection of what some call the “Sometime Islands” have emerged, and Thompson said water was only 6 feet deep in the only channel through the islands Friday.
“I did see some spots that were 98 feet deep and 115 feet deep, so there's still a lot of water in Lake Travis. I don't think we're going to run out,” he said. “But there may be spots where you'll be able to wade from the (Lower Colorado River Authority) park to the islands.”
As boat traffic subsides on Lake Travis, the state park system reports increased traffic at parks in areas with consistent lake levels and rivers with adequate flow rates. Boaters forced off Lake Buchanan, for example, have moved to Inks Lake State Park near Burnet, and further to the west officials report good traffic at South Llano River State Park in Junction.
To the south, business also is still good in New Braunfels, which depends heavily on summer tourists along the Guadalupe and Comal rivers and at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark.
“The state of the economy has helped,” said Joe Breads at Corner Tubes near the Comal, which is fed by springs and, thus, is less susceptible to drought than the Guadalupe. “This is still a relatively inexpensive means of entertainment. People want to get out, and this isn't as hard on the pocketbook.”
Still, guests like Mike May of Houston, preparing with his family for their second float of the day, notice the difference.
“It's usually about an hour and a half float,” May said. “Now, it probably will take you an extra hour.”
The drought prompted retired astronaut Charles Duke, who lives in New Braunfels with his wife, Dotty, to suggest a citywide prayer service Thursday afternoon to beseech the Almighty for a timely shower.
There was a brief shower before Thursday's service and a heavier downpour Friday night, so Duke is encouraged that the city's prayers may have been heard.
“We don't plan any more services,” he said. “But if we can start getting some good rain, maybe we'll have another one to celebrate.”
Given the always-unpredictable nature of Texas weather, however, New Braunfels Mayor Bruce Boyer said residents are being specific with their prayers.
“We are praying for moderate, consistent rain,” he said, laughing. “We don't want any floods.”
