The Lower Colorado River Authority said it will open at least two floodgates at Mansfield Dam on Saturday after torrential rains in the Hill Country filled Lake Travis to the top of its conservation pool. It’s the first time the LCRA has opened floodgates at Mansfield Dam to manage water levels since 2019.
The Mansfield Dam is one of a series of dams built across the Colorado River that form the Highland Lakes.
Lake Travis is the water reservoir formed by the Mansfield Dam. The reservoir stores the water supply for Austin and other communities. But it also acts as a flood control reservoir, impounding stormwater until it can be released more carefully downstream via floodgates.
At current lake levels, the LCRA can only open floodgates on the Mansfield Dam as long as those releases will not raise the Colorado River too much at certain points downstream.
The first floodgate is expected to open around 6 a.m. on Saturday, and the second will open around 1 p.m., the LCRA said.
The LCRA said it also plans to open a floodgate at Tom Miller Dam on Friday. That will clear the path for more water from the Mansfield Dam releases on Saturday.
Multiple floodgates will remain open at the Wirtz Dam and Starcke Dam, the river authority said, and water flows will be fast and water levels will be higher downstream of the dams.
This is a developing story.