![]() ![]() The following boat ramps at Lake Travis remain closed as of Tuesday because of low lake levels, according to the LCRA: By the following evening, the elevation was back up to 644.77 feet. 22, just before another round of storms rolled through the region. 18, the water elevation at Lake Travis has been slipping from around 644.7 feet to about 644.5 feet on the morning of Aug. Since storms soaked Central Texas on Aug. However, the recent rainfall appeared to slow the rate of decline because the level was still about 644.6 feet a week ago. The water elevation at Mansfield Dam, which forms the lake, was about 644.37 feet above mean sea level, which is not only about 20 feet below the historical average for August but also about 2.6 feet lower than a month ago. Lake Travis, the popular aquatic playground that's also a community water source, was considered filled to only 51% of its capacity, LCRA data show. An acre-foot is the amount of water it takes to cover an acre a foot deep. As of Tuesday afternoon, that number was down to about 1.11 million acre-feet. Here's a list of more impressive statsĪccording to the LCRA, which manages the Highland Lakes for hydroelectricity and flood control, the volume of water stored in the reservoir lakes, Travis and Buchanan, at full would be about 2 million acre-feet. The parched soils in Central Texas have soaked up much of August's precipitation, but some runoff has been able to feed the region's critical water sources, such as the Hill Country watersheds that feed the Highland Lakes west of Austin and underground aquifers.Īustin just had rainiest day of year. 2.33 inches near Dripping Springs in northern Hays County.2.64 inches on Cedar Creek south of Bastrop in southern Bastrop County.2.83 inches southwest of Wyldwood in Bastrop County.3.32 inches southwest of Lockhart in northern Caldwell County.3.43 inches near Round Mountain in northern Blanco County.3.37 inches at Cortana Shores on Lake Austin in central Travis County.4.09 inches near Burnet in central Burnet County.4.23 inches near Harwood in Caldwell County.4.81 inches northwest of Georgetown in northern Williamson County.As of Wednesday, some of the highest rainfall totals included: On Tuesday, gauges monitored by the Lower Colorado River Authority and the National Weather Service showed some parts of the Austin metro area receiving more than 4 inches of rainfall. Therefore, we will be waiting for the latest drought update to be released on January 7th which will include the rains from New Year’s Eve into it’s calculations.Mother Nature blessed Austin with more rain than normal earlier this month and again on Tuesday, so how is that affecting the Highland Lakes along the Colorado River, which Central Texas uses for fun and as critical water sources?Īlthough the volume of water stored in the lakes has been decreasing for months, prompting local authorities to enact light restrictions on water use, the rate of decline has slowed since the recent rainfall. Our current drought is right on the cusp between a short and a early long-term drought. But a long-term drought can last several months to several years and will need multiple heavy rain events, spread throughout many months, to recover from. Short-term droughts last for a few weeks to a couple of months, and thus need only one or two heavy rainfall events to recover from. How long these scales are impacted by the lack of rainfall determine how long it will take to recover. However, even though we ended the year in a surplus of rain, whether or not the drought will be eliminated is uncertain at this time.ĭrought conditions are calculated by several indices that monitor rain, soil moisture, and groundwater levels. All in all, most of Central Texas picked up some very healthy rains as indicated by the totals above from the LCRA. ![]()
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