Posted: Sat, 28 May 2011 07:52 AM - 15,509 Readers

By: Dustin Blanchard & John Bumgardner

Boaters on this Memorial Day weekend are dealing with long lines and low lake levels.

Low water levels forced the Lower Colorado River Authority to shut down most of its boat ramps.

Ramps at Mansfield Dam, Sandy Creek and Jones Brothers Park remained open. The extra traffic around those ramps caused a traffic snarl on the land and in the water.

Boaters said they have less lake to play on, so it's important they take it slow.

"I know the lake pretty well, so I'll be navigating through the channel," said Glenn Anderson.

The low lake levels also mean new islands are exposed, and many once-navigable areas are too shallow.

"Its a big concern because theres a lot of places that are sticking out," said Jerry Gonzales.

"Slow down, take it easy, don't get too crazy," said Mike Chesnutt.

The LCRA on their website said water levels on Lake Travis are 20 feet below normal and they are quickly dropping below the historic May average of 671.77 ft msl.

“Inflows into the Highland Lakes continue to be well below normal for this time of year and exceptional to extreme drought conditions remain in place across the basin.”

As of 6:15 Saturday morning, the level of Lake Buchanan is declining at 1,008.4 ft msl, which is about 5.5 feet below its historic May average of 1,013.88 ft msl.

According to the LCRA total combined storage in the Highland Lakes two water storage reservoirs, Buchanan and Travis, is at 1,302,000 acre-feet, or 65 percent of capacity.