Posted: Sat, 3 Sep 2011 09:46 AM - 15,551 Readers

By: Morgan Chesky

It may not be the end of the official summer, but as far as summer tourist season goes, Lake Travis businesses have one last chance to cash in.

"It's frustrating, but there's really not anything we can do about it," said Cafe Blue owner Jason Lantroop. A record drought plus a record heat wave leaves Lantroop Labor Day weekend to salvage his losses.

"It's definitely affected our business," said Lantroop. "The record heat we've been experiencing with us being an outdoor venue has hurt us just as much if not more than the drought has."
 
Lantroop says business is down almost 30 percent. When he opened Cafe Blue in 2007, lack of water was the least of his worries. A black line marks where the top of the floodwaters came just four years ago.

"This is a playoff game if you're in the boat rental business," said Captain Rett Scudder at Beach Front Boat Rentals. "There's Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day."

Scudder says it's bad, but levels are still 3-feet higher than the drought of 2009.

"If you don't live out here you don't realize it's still one hundred feet deep out there," said Scudder. "You can still swim in one hundred feet of water."
 
Reservations for Scudder's party barges have him booked through Wctober. His losses come from the lack of small boat rentals. Shallow water puts motors closer to sediment, making them prone to overheating.

"Labor Day is a huge weekend for us and we'll be fine but like I say by the end of September then we're really going to have to start building things to get down to the water," explained Scudder. "It will hurt us here in the next few weeks if we don't get some rain."

If there isn't any rain soon Lake Travis will follow Lake Buchanan in having to close all public boat ramps. Right now, access to Lake Travis is reduced to one lane of the Mansfield Dam ramp.