Posted: Sun, 24 Apr 2016 08:12 AM - 38,575 Readers

By: Asher Price & Katie Urbaszewski

Spectators watch water pour out of a Mansfield Dam floodgate, which was opened around 8 a.m. Monday to flush water downstream from swollen reservoirs. DEBORAH CANNON / AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Officials opened a floodgate at Mansfield Dam on Lake Travis on Monday around 8 a.m.

This is part of the plan to gradually flush downstream water from swollen reservoirs, including Lake Travis. Officials opened floodgates last week at dams farther upstream.

As the water is spread along miles of river, most people won’t notice its release — the lakes and dams were built in part for the express purpose of regulating water on the Colorado River.

The increased water flow during the dam release will provide ideal conditions to conduct swiftwater rescue and boat training, Austin-Travis County EMS official said, so the agency’s special operations section will also conduct swift water rescue technician training and boat operations.