Lake Travis,TX before and after the drought

[henzilla]

Lake Travis is in the Highland Lakes chain along the Colorado River closest to Austin. It is managed by the LCRA ( Lower Colorado River Authority) Built for flood control and storage as a water source it is feast or famine for property owners and recreational users.

The lake has been in drought stage for the last several years and was 40-50' below average. Most boat ramps high and dry.
I have seen it low and just feet from topping the spillway in 1991.

Finally got rain in the watershed feeding the lakes late last year and it has come up to 94% capacity for the first time in years. With El Nino doing it's thing, it will not take much to send it into flood stage, which has occurred a few times.

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I did a few passes on Lime Creek Road Wednesday ( a member here has that screenname and lives along the twisty route) A popular route that used to be in the boonies...not so much now and heavily patrolled in the summer.



The Sandy Creek arm of the lake was low and non existent in places last summer. This was from the County park bearing the name

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2012 according to my files

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This week!

For those who remember The Oasis seemingly rickety cliffside decks of the 80's...it burned down in June 2005 and was replaced with THIS! The food never was the draw, the margaritas and the sunset view overlooking the lake was the scene.
http://oasis-austin.com/

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I also stopped at the spillway, which until recent years had public access. Now a big sign warns you to turn around...I did as I had a feeling cameras were watching me.

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I rode to the other side where another County Park is located and the once open to the public roadway on top of the dam. Prior to a new high bridge in the early 90's, it was the main lanes of RR 620.After the new bridge was opened, the public used to walk,bike and skate on it...no more

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As I was taking this picture, I saw a LEO truck rapidly coming from mid dam towards me. I moved over to the parking area about ten feet away as the officer pulled alongside to chat with me
He asked why I took a picture of the sign below as he had been watching...I take pictures of a lot of things was my reply, along with telling him I used to live nearby and ride bikes on the dam and was just noticing all the changes to access.
He asked a few more questions and told me to have a good day as he re-entered the razor wired gate and rolled back to the middle of the dam. Life rolls on

 

[lee]

Thanks for the pics Steve.
Yesterday I checked the online water level of Lake Travis and it was 3.3' or 3.4' below the spillway.
Looking at the charts, April 2010 was the last time the lake was full, and that lasted about one month.

 

[henzilla]

It's nice seeing it up to "normal levels" and no limestone white ring. One big rain in the 3-4" range in the Travis watershed will cause issues when the lake is this full this time of year.

Helen sold her lakeside bar right before another big flood in 2003. The water was almost over the roof. The latest owner has made the kitchen a floatable unit...hasn't needed it yet.
I have a lot of pre-digital photos I need to scan from when we were killing the power out to structures as they were being submerged in a 1991 December flood. We watched the lake rise over an inch an hour at one point, which was hard to grasp with such a large lake.

 

[henzilla]

Found a few oldies from 1991



This was after the water receded a month later and before Helen owned it.The water was about 1 foot from the ridgerow on the A frame



This pole sits between the structure and the marina, there is a line I painted from a boat right below the wires. This is usually high and dry in a parking lot.



We were launching a boat from this same point as the water was rising the month before this shot. It is usually a street leading to marina parking lot. It sits about 20' above lake levels typically. Another pole out of view to viewers left had another paint stripe 25' above the ground with high water mark! The bar/cafe structure is just to the right.

 

[henzilla]

These are from H's time as owner around 2002. I kept my sailboat here and had met the owner for the first time around then. Had no idea our paths would cross again in 2006

 

[Omega Man]

Nice pictures Steve
A Woman with a bar- right up there with a Woman with a gravel pit or scrap-yard. .
OM

 

[henzilla]

Nice pictures Steve
A Woman with a bar- right up there with a Woman with a gravel pit or scrap-yard. .
OM

Back then I was just a customer, but yeah, she still had behind the counter privileges with the staff and newest owner when we started dating