Posted: Mon, 21 Mar 2016 10:36 AM - 36,172 Readers

By: Fred Cantu

For area boaters the drought is over. This weekend boaters on Lake Travis will be celebrating the lake being officially 100 percent full for the first time in nearly six years. Lake area merchants are hoping this means the drought in their business is over too.

Technically it won't be spring until Sunday, March 20, but boaters are already jumping at the chance to enjoy all Lake Travis has to offer. "There's a lot more usable space. It spreads everybody out. It's not as congested," says Pete Clark, owner of Just for Fun.

Clark has been renting boats and jet skis on Lake Travis for nearly 30 years and admits it's had its highs and lows. He says, "We've seen droughts before. I honestly have to say we haven't been through one as bad as this last one, but we kind of knew some of the things to do to hunker down and survive."

At 681 feet above sea level, Lake Travis is considered full. But it's designed to handle flash flooding. John Hofmann, executive vice president for water at LCRA explains, "What 681 means for LCRA is we pay even closer attention to rain events we have predicted over the next 48 hours as they come into our water shed because that could put water in our flood pool at Lake Travis."

The high water is also expected to bring back businesses that closed during the drought. The old Carlos n Charlie's next door to Just for Fun is expected to reopen soon with a new tenant.

So for now the advice is to enjoy the water but don't waste it. Hofmann says, "We encourage people to continue to live by the lessons we learned over the last horrifically dry years and to use water as wisely as they can."

*  Story Contributed by: Fred Cantu