Recent heavy rain boosts lake levels in Central Texas

Heavy rain helps boost lake levels

A rainy May and June have given Central Texas a boost in lake levels, and a big help to businesses on the water.

CENTRAL TEXAS - A rainy May and June have given Central Texas a boost in lake levels, and a big help to businesses on the water.

The recent rainfall has brought some much-needed relief to Lake Buchanan, which has risen five-and-a-half-feet, and Lake Travis, which has risen up to three feet.

The Highland Lakes even contribute further downstream, like here at Lake Austin.

Central Texas lake levels

The backstory:

"Our overall water supply is up over 120,000-acre feet. So that's really beneficial for us in terms of our region," said John Hofmann, Executive Vice President of water, LCRA.

According to LCRA, Lake Buchanan is 62% full while Lake Travis is 45 % full.

"The lakes will be impacted if we don't get more rain because of this, because the hot, dry part of the summer is still ahead of us. The highest water use occurs during that period of time, and the highest evaporation affects our lakes during that time. And so, minus additional water coming into the reservoirs through additional rainfall events, we'll see a drop in the reservoir in July and August that will be pretty significant," said Hofmann.

Canyon Lake at its lowest level

Canyon Lake in Comal County is at historically low levels, despite recent rainfall in Central Texas.

The water supply reservoirs together remain 53% full.

LCRA emphasized we would need significant rain and many weather events to leave the drought in the rearview mirror, but this is a good step in the right direction.

"Statistically, it's going to be dry July, August and September, but in our history, we've also had major flood events that have happened during the same times," said Hofmann.

LCRA updates the lake levels every five minutes.

You can find that information here.

Local businesses react

What they're saying:

For businesses on the water, like Luxury Boat Rentals, they keep a close eye on the lake levels daily.

"It's a constant thing here with the lake levels dropping, with them rising as we have. Fortunately, in the last few days, we've gained a few feet, which is always good news out here on Lake Travis," said Carter Faubus, General Manager, Luxury Boat Rentals.

His business sits at the Paradise Cove marina on Lake Travis, offering everything from party barges to jet skis, to ski boats, to pontoon boats and more.

Faubus says the increase in lake levels means more people out on the water, and it couldn't come at a better time ahead of the busy summer season.

"We're definitely excited about it because it just gets people motivated in the summer to get out and cool off out on the lake," said Faubus.