The water levels of a Central Texas lake will be temporarily lowered nearly 10 feet in hopes to control the growth of an invasive aquatic plant. At the request of the request of the City of Austin, the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) will draw down Lake Austin this fall, according to a release.
Lake Austin will be lowered between Mansfield Dam and Tom Miller Dam from Oct. 12 through Nov. 30 to allow shoreline property owners and City departments to perform needed maintenance. The City of Austin is seeking this drawdown in response to stakeholder requests from last summer to improve water activities on the lake.
“The lake will be lowered by about 10 feet to provide property owners improved access to docks, bulkheads and boat slips and allow the Austin Fire and Austin Parks & Recreation departments to complete planned maintenance,” LCRA said in a release. “The lake will be slowly drawn down by no more than about a foot a day beginning Oct. 12.”
As of Friday, August 21, Lake Austin sits at 492.08 feet above mean sea level, according to LCRA’s real time River Operations Report. Depending on conditions during the drawdown, it could take up to three weeks for the lake to reach its lowered target range of 481.8 to 482.8 feet above mean sea level.
LCRA said that public boat ramps along Lake Austin will be closed and swimming will be prohibited at Emma Long Metropolitan Park throughout the drawdown. This will allow property owners to “take advantage of exposed lakebed areas to repair shoreline structures, dredge boat slips, remove debris and manage nuisance vegetation.”
Austin Development Services is developing a dedicated Site Plan Exemption permit application for stakeholders to perform minor repairs to boat docks and bulkheads during this drawdown, which will be available on the city’s boat docks website.
In October 2025, KXAN reported that landowners near Lake Austin asked the City of Austin and the LCRA perform a drawdown during the winter months to stop an invasive hydrilla that stirred a debate. Hydrilla is a submersed aquatic plant widely known as one of the world’s most aggressive invasive underwater weeds, forming dense surface mats that clog waterways, ruin recreation and disrupt native aquatic life.
Residents argued that the plant was interfering with docks and recreation, while some fishermen said the hydrilla improved fish habitats and fishing conditions on Lake Austin, per KXAN.
During the drawdown, LCRA may release water from Mansfield Dam upstream of Lake Austin occasionally to maintain Lake Austin at its lowered level or pass water through the lake to meet downstream demands. This means that water levels at the upper end of Lake Austin may be higher than the lowered range measured at Tom Miller Dam.