Canyon Lake bounced back close to 50 percent from its low.
KERR COUNTY, Texas — The Hill Country floods may have taken and upended so many lives, but the rain that caused the flood has helped put a damper in our drought. We take a look at the rains’ impact on our waterways and lakes.
Three months ago, more than 80 percent of Texas was considered to have some level of drought. That number has dropped to less than 30 percent.
But just west of Bexar County, including the Hill Country and areas south and west, still need more rain to eliminate this four-year drought. But area lakes now have much more water.
Angela Tobin, assistant general manager for Canyon Lake Marina told us, “It’s reminiscent of the lake levels, how they were in the last few years, and unfortunately it came at a cost of life and businesses that were that was unexpected.”
Three months ago, Lake Travis was 42 percent full and today it is 88 percent. Lake Buchanan three months ago sat at 54 percent full and is now near 100 percent!
Medina Lake is still extremely low, but above the level of two percent three months ago, now three times that to six percent. And Canyon Lake three months ago fell to just under 47 percent and now bounced back up to 67 percent.
“We’re doing rentals, and our ramp is open as well,” Tobin said. “As far as we know and understand the lake is safe and it’s open to the public.”
We reached out to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regarding the water quality following the flood.
“Every two years, TCEQ evaluates recent quality assured, water quality data for each major water body in the state, assesses compliance with surface water quality standards, and identifies areas that are not meeting applicable surface water quality standards,” they said.
So for now, we rely on firsthand reports, like those from Tobin who said there used to be some debris.
“What we see is just kind of things here and there but there’s no large debris fields of it any longer,” Tobin said.