Lake Travis

Lake Travis is only 35% full

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This photo was taken today from a road to a Hudson Bend marina. the water level is very low…

Lake Travis is a huge lake in the Hill Country northwest of Austin, Texas. It normally has 29.5 square miles of water. That is when normal precipitation falls on the Colorado River basin areas. The whole world has seen lots of area under drought conditions. The Colorado basin and Central Texas is no exception.

That boater has to watch for shallow water not normally there!

As of today, 10/20/2023 Lake Travis Mean Water Level was 627.30 above sea level. One year ago today it was 640.76. Thus in one year the Mean Water Level has dropped 13.46 feet. Another parameter measured daily is the total surface area in acres of the lake. Today the Lake Travis surface area was 8,799 acres. Last year, same date, it was 10,746 acres. Nearly 2000 acres less one year later. Seeing the low level of the water today was quite a shock.

Mansfield Dam and Lake Travis near Austin

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We drove up to an overlook site to see the top of the dam. In 1937 construction began on the then Marshall Ford Dam across the Colorado River in Texas. The 278′ tall dam was completed in 1941, was renamed the Mansfield Dam in honor of a local member of Congress. The dam created Lake Travis northwest of Austin.

The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) controls the dam functions

No drones allowed!

Lake Travis has 30 square miles of surface  water that  winds through the former canyons of the large watershed area of the Colorado River. The lake is as you would expect a center of recreational activities.