After yesterday’s boating ban by the city, and the Colorado River reaching banks-full status in Austin below Longhorn Dam, the Lower Colorado River Authority has announced its own restrictions further upstream and warned about the river possibly bursting its banks.
Due to the heavy rains overnight, the LCRA has temporarily closed lakes Inks, Travis, Marble Falls, and LBJ to recreational users. Contractors and property owners are still allowed to use the waterways for “needed” repair work. Buchanan is open but with a big warning about debris, so sail carefully.
The river agency obviously will be keeping an eye on conditions and will try to post updated decisions about navigability by 4pm each day while the high levels last. They’re also warning that they may still have to keep opening floodgates on dams to keep the waters under control, with little or no warning. As of 8am, they have two gates open on Buchanan, four at Starcke dam on lake Marble Falls, one partially open on Wirtz on lake LBJ, plus the water on the spillway on Inks Lake is 3-feet-deep.
This article appears in June 22 • 2007.
