Lake Travis is Back!

Anyone who was in Austin in 2008 and 2009 saw the effect of the drought the region experienced.  It baked the ground dry, killed a lot of plants and drove lake levels way down.  During the summer of 2009, the area also suffered from an almost record-setting number of days of 100+ degree temperatures. 

Then the rain started coming (thanks, El Nino).  Not only did rain fall, but it fell in the right areas to drain into our lakes and replenish our lake levels.  Take a look above at the graph of the level of Lake Travis over the last 13 – ½ months that follows.  From May through September, we had record heat and no rain.  Evaporation, combined to releasing water, saw the level of Lake Travis plunge to its lowest level since 1965.

So what’s happening as a result of the lakes being back up to relatively normal levels?  Water restrictions ended and people are looking at Lake Travis waterfront properties again. 

Lake property values suffered last summer for a couple of reasons. One was the economy and the other was that Lake Travis just was not attractive.

Take a look at the photos that follow to see what I mean.  The one showing the lake so low was taken in September.  I took the other a few years ago when Lake Travis was around 10 feet low.  Amazing, right? 

I don’t think there is anyone in the area who isn’t thrilled to see Lake Travis back to normal.  Let’s hope it stays that way for a while.