Posted: Fri, 3 Jul 2009 09:06 AM - 7,052 Readers
By: Frank Morris
As boaters are revving up for Fourth of July festivities, the sinking water levels of Lake Travis have raised not only environmental concerns but also economic woes.
Lake Travis provides drinking water and water recreation for Austin residents. Many lake-based business owners have expressed concern that the weather will have a negative effect on summer tourism, which they believe to be a vital part of the Central Texas economy. Only one public boat ramp is open on Lake Travis.
As of Thursday, Lake Travis was at 642 feet above sea level, its lowest since 2000 and 40 feet below average. According to the Lower Colorado River Authority, it is projected to drop below 635 feet by October.
“The water level has dropped to alarming levels,” said Environment Texas director Luke Metzger.
2008 was the driest year in terms of rainfall since 1956 and the fourth-driest since 1856.
Environment Texas is lobbying the city to increase water conservation levels by one-third in order to reduce stress on local reservoirs. Metzger said the spring flows from Barton Springs were at their second-lowest in 30 years.
“This drought threatens our water supply, local wildlife and our marinas,” Metzger said.
Metzger said he is confident that Mayor Lee Leffingwell and City Manager Marc Ott will put pressure on the Austin Water Utility to increase its conservation efforts.
“[Leffingwell] is committed to meeting and exceeding — in whatever way we can — water conservation efforts,” said Mark Nathan, a spokesman for the mayor’s office.
Pete Clark, owner of Just for Fun watercraft rental and Carlos‘N Charlie’s restaurant, said more than 1,000 jobs are directly connected to water levels.
“I had 300 people on my payroll last summer,” Clark said. “This year, I have 150.”
Clark said the problem is not layoffs, but a lack of hiring. Many of the now jobless summer staff at restaurants and marinas lining Lake Travis are students at UT and other local universities. He said that because
water levels on the lake are so low, the docks that supply 30 percent of his off-the-water business at his restaurant are unusable.
Not all businesses are affected. Steve Allen, owner of Lakeway Marina, said his business has increased during the past five years, despite the sinking lake levels.
“The water hasn’t slowed ‘em down,” Allen said.
He said he does not believe there will be any slackening in demand for boats over Fourth of July weekend, and that as long as boaters stay on the cliff side of the lake, where the water is deeper, they should be safe.
“It’s actually a lot easier to avoid the low spots now because they’re so visible,” Allen said.
But Clark said that even though people can still use the lake for recreation, the perception of a lake that is unsafe or unusable for boating will do significant harm to the business.
Troy Kimmel, geography senior lecturer and KEYE-TV CBS meteorologist, said the best way to overcome the drought is rain.
“But it’s a special kind of rain,” he said. “Some people think that if we get 20 inches of rain in the Hill Country tonight we’ll refill Lake Travis. Truth is, you might, but you’ll also kill some people with flash floods.”
Kimmel said that what the area needs is a slow, steady rainfall that maintains soil saturation.
Bob Rose, a Lower Colorado River Authority meteorologist, said he does not expect a steady rainfall between now and September, and he does not expect the wet weather of El Niño to take hold in Central Texas until the fall.
“What we can’t rule out is activity from the Gulf — some kind of tropical storm,” Rose said.
