Posted: Mon, 1 Jul 2013 08:26 PM - 23,872 Readers

By: KEYE TV

A drowning and two boat propeller accidents have happened on Lake Travis within the last two days. We went there on Monday to check out the lake levels and the new risks for boaters and swimmers this summer.

"It's just amazing what's in this lake," said Pedernales firefighter Kyle Swarts, as he drove a pontoon boat. "It's actually kind of scary."

Lieutenant Swarts responded to Sunday's propeller accident, as crews searched for a young man's body in another cove.

"You're exposing hazards that people are not used to, that are normally under 20-30 feet of water," Swarts explained.

Hazards like boulders, submerged trees and we even saw a newly exposed car on the shore.

"There's all types of fishing lines, trash ropes, things you can get tangled up in and end up drowning," Swarts added.

"Right here is the infamous 'kids cliff'," as he pointed to a tall bluff with huge, jagged boulders below.

Swarts told us he has responded to fatalities there every year.

"People would jump off, hit those submerged rocks and never come up," he said.

With Lake Travis only 36 percent full, Swarts said before driving on these waters, go out with a seasoned Lake Travis boater who knows the lake. Someone who knows not to drive in the middle of the lake but to look for LCRA buoys that mark the deepest parts. He also recommended installing a depth finder and learning the changing terrain underneath.

The two people hurt by the propellers over the weekend are expected to survive. Lake Travis is 42 feet below average for July.