As severe rains and thunderstorms continue in central Texas on Friday, Lake Travis in Travis County remains at severe risk of flooding. The risks are now compounded by the LCRA opening floodgates at Mansfield and Tom Miller dams on Friday.
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“Floodgate operations are expected at Mansfield Dam and Tom Miller Dam,” the LCRA said in an update on Friday afternoon. “LCRA will open at least two floodgates at Mansfield Dam tomorrow, Saturday. The first gate is expected to be opened around 6 AM. The second gate is expected to be opened at 1 PM.”
As a result, severe risk of flooding exists in the low-lying areas starting 6am CDT on Friday till late in the afternoon.
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The water level at Lake Travis rising above 681 feet mean sea level does not cause an immediate threat to the local community. After the 681 feet mark is breached, the water enters its designated flood pool, which extends to 714 feet.
How Close To Full Is Lake Travis On Friday?
The rainfall on the watershed of the Colorado River and the Pedernales River increased the water levels rapidly through Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday, July 16, the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) warned that it would open the floodgates at Wirtz and Starcke dams. At the time, the water level at Lake Travis was around 85% full.
On Friday, a local area alert was issued to the residents of Travis County as the LCRA announced that they planned to open two floodgates at the Mansfield dam early on Saturday, June 18. This would lead to a significant rise in water level at Lake Travis, on top of its alarming rise in water level- the highest since 2019.
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Lake Travis is 94.8% full as of Friday, 4:00pm CDT, according to the website of Water Data For Texas. The website provides real-time updates on the water level at Lake Travis and other Texas reservoirs.
The alert for Travis County is expected to span from 7:00pm CDT to 8pm CDT, per scanner reports. Meanwhile, Chikage Windler, the Chief Meteorologist of CBS Austin, reported that as of 7:00pm CDT, Lake Travis is just half a foot away from being full.
According to the official website of Lake Travis, the lake is considered full at 681 feet MSL. As of 7:00pm CDT, the lake was less than three feet short of that level at 680.18 feet MSL.
The extended reservoir has been specially designed to curb flooding towards Austin in the event Lake Travis overflows. However, the low-lying areas around the Colorado River still remains at significant risk.
It incudes, Hudson Bend, Graveyard Point, Sady Creek and Crow Creek areas of Lake Travis, Lakeway, and some parts of Volente and The Hollows on the north shore.
