Updated 9:20 a.m. June 13
Lake Travis reopened to boat traffic June 10, though other local waterways remain closed to watercrafts.
Posted 4:44 p.m. June 6
Starting at 8:30 p.m. on June 6, Lake Travis will be closed to recreational boat traffic indefinitely, said John Hofmann, executive vice president of water for the Lower Colorado River Authority.
“We are closing Lake Travis to recreational boat traffic because of increased hazards due to submerged items and the detrimental effect that lake traffic has on property,” he said.
The ban pertains to recreational boat traffic only and a violation of the restriction can result in a $500 fine, Hofmann said. The agency’s lake rangers will be patrolling the waterway to enforce the closure, he said.
The level of Lake Travis is at 692.6 mean sea level, a rate that is above the lake’s full level of 681 and the elevation at which its flood pool begins, Hofmann said.
“The higher the level, the more items are submerged, and in some cases, only partially submerged,” he said. “Because [the higher water level] presents a whole new set of navigational hazards, it represents a significant additional opportunity for hazards on the lake.”
Hofmann said LCRA is in its third week of flood operations and the Colorado River system continues to have a lot of water entering it from the recent rains upstream, causing Lake Travis to rise.
Lake Travis has only been closed twice prior to the June 6 event—partially in 2011 and fully in 2007, he said. The June 6 level is the 10th-highest recorded level for the lake which stood 50 feet lower a year ago, he said.
“We will be evaluating and reevaluating [the closure] on a regular basis,” Hoffman said. “It will depend on the hazards and how quickly the lake ends up coming down.
“We are blessed with a forecast right now that appears to be sunny and relatively dry through the remainder of the week. But this is Texas and Central Texas, so that’s always subject to change.”
Mansfield Dam status
As of June 6, Mansfield Dam has three full floodgates and one small flood gate open for a total water discharge of 25,000 cubic feet per second, or about the volume of 17 Olympic-size swimming pools, said John Hofmann, executive vice president of water, Lower Colorado River Authority.
The spillway level at Mansfield Dam is at 714 mean sea level and Lake Travis is at 692.6 msl as of June 6, he said. Short term forecast for lake levels is to reach up to 693 by the evening of June 6, he said.
“[The spillway level] is our cap,” Hofmann said. “The closest we have ever gotten to that was in 1991 at the Christmas flood. In that year, we got up to 710.4.”
