AUSTIN, Texas — Lake Austin businesses are bracing for impact this fall as lake season is being cut short for a lake drawdown.

In August, the Lower Colorado River Authority and the city of Austin announced they will begin lowering Lake Austin for maintenance and shoreline cleanup. The process is set to begin on Oct. 12 and finish Nov. 30. The LCRA said the lake will lower by about one foot each week until the lake is 10 feet lower.

“Property owners may take advantage of exposed lakebed areas to repair shoreline structures, dredge boat slips, remove debris and manage nuisance vegetation,” the agency said in the announcement.

The last drawdown in Lake Austin happened nine years ago. Austin Watershed Protection officials said years of drought prevented the city from lowering the lake further.

The drawdowns usually happened in the winter, between January and February, but after Winter Storm Uri in 2021, the LCRA moved the planned drawdowns to the fall.

“LCRA determined it would no longer conduct lake drawdowns in the winter to help ensure the hydroelectric generators at dams along the Highland Lakes remain available to fully support the Texas power grid during the cold winter months,” the agency said.

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Johnston said summer drawdowns are also difficult because of peak energy demand, leaving the fall and spring as options. She said water demands in the spring ultimately made the fall the preferred timeframe.

“March and May also don’t work because there’s water demand, so there’s water coming through the system at that time, so the water levels would fluctuate,” Liz Johnston with Austin Watershed Protection said.

But that drawdown decision has some businesses that rely on the lake during this time uncertain of what’s next.

“You have ACL, F1, you have all these people coming in for football. October is an incredible time,” Todd Rocheford, owner of Longhorn Leisure, said.

Rocheford is in his first year as owner of the boat rental company, where he also works as a captain. He said he learned about the drawdown less than two months before the lake is scheduled to begin dropping.

“I have five guys, and this is the only way to make a living,” he said. “I mean, a lot of them have kids and a lot of people; this is their only source of income that’s going to be cut off, so it’s going to be tough.”

He said if the city and LCRA don’t move the drawdown, he’s unsure when or how the business will make money until lake season starts back up again in March.

“If they lower the water level, we’re not going to be able to operate,” he said.

Thursday, Rochford and other Lake Austin businesses are planning to share their concerns with city officials at the Austin City Council meeting.