Lower water levels at Lakewood Park have affected access to recreational activities. (Hamera Shabbir/Community Impact)
Continuing a months-long dispute, the Leander City Council voted Oct. 1 to request an increase to water levels at Lakewood Park.
Water levels for the dam at Lakewood Park fell nearly four feet—from 876.2 feet to 872.8 feet above sea level—in late 2025. While the Upper Brushy Creek Water Control Improvement District states illegal modifications resulted in "an artificially higher lake level," city leaders and residents are asking the agency to restore the dam to a higher water level.
"It's not necessarily a given that [Upper Brushy Creek WCID] would automatically restore the lake level, but at least that puts the request in front of them formally from the city,” Edwin Revell, assistant city manager for Leander, said during the Oct. 1 meeting.
The action taken
The resolution passed by the Leander City Council authorizes the city staff to request two items from the Upper Brushy Creek WCID, including:
While the agency provided the city with more than 4,000 documents in January 2026, Revell said the city was requesting additional information it had not received.
The details
To request higher pool levels, city staff would need the consent of neighboring property owners, Revell said.
Jeremy Vicars, a neighboring resident and member of the Lakewood Country Estates Landowners Association, said the decrease in water levels had been “pretty dramatic” for the community.
Several community members have expressed concerns about the lower water levels at Lakewood Park. Community Impact staff
Vicars said trailers can no longer back down to the water level at the community's boat ramp. Recreational activities like kayaking, fishing and swimming have also been impacted, he said.
"This is a critical issue for the folks of Leander," council member Stephen Chang said during the Oct. 1 meeting. "It's a quality of life issue, it's an economic issue for our city. We've been engaging with WCID and we haven't gotten the answers. I think this is the next logical step in the process."
Zooming out
Plywood lies at the heart of this dispute.
Upper Brushy Creek WCID states that "illegal planking ... raised the lake level and reduced flood storage" by blocking several port drains, which let water out. After the wood was removed in late 2025, water levels dropped to what the water management agency says the dam was designed for in 1962.
During a July 2 city council meeting, Revell said the city believes the plywood was "intentionally placed prior to 2018."
The district states that regular fluctuations in the dam’s elevation would not have revealed that the ports were covered. Since then, Upper Brushy Creek WCID has changed gauge levels and added protocols to identify alterations to the dam, the district’s webpage states.
While the city and many residents are seeking to increase the water level, Upper Brushy Creek WCID states the dam “was restored to its permitted design to reduce flood risk and comply with state law.”
The district also states that maintaining a higher pool level can increase the likelihood and length of flooding events. As an example, the district said that flooding to the park in June 2026 would have affected more of the park and lasted for a week longer had the dam been four feet higher.
“Maintaining water approximately four feet above the designed elevation increases both the frequency and duration of flooding events while reducing available flood-storage capacity and increasing potential flooding risks to the public,” the district’s webpage states.
Looking forward
A webpage from the Upper Brushy Creek WCID states that future changes to the dam’s water levels would need
An engineering review that measures flooding impacts as well as effects on property owners
Approval from the Upper Brushy Creek WCID board of directors
Approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's dam safety program
Approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s authorities
Vicars said many of his neighbors are watching to see the outcome of the city’s request.
“It’s kind of a wait and see and let the process play out,” he said.
Upper Brushy Creek WCID did not respond to requests for comment.
