{"id":378764,"date":"2026-07-19T15:49:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T15:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/378764\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T15:49:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T15:49:27","slug":"lake-travis-levels-rise-as-waters-turn-into-flood-pool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/378764\/","title":{"rendered":"Lake Travis levels rise as waters turn into flood pool"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Lake Travis reached full capacity for the first time in years after flooding over the last several days, but elevated water levels have also brought elevated risks \u2014 including debris and changing river flows that prompted officials to limit recreation in parts of the area.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, visitors at Mansfield Dam Park could be seen taking in views of the lake and fishing, but the boat ramp was closed to boaters.<\/p>\n

John Hofmann, executive vice president of water for the Lower Colorado River Authority, said people need to be aware conditions can change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing they need to keep in mind is there’s going to be flows depending upon where they are in the river system,\u201d Hofmann said.<\/p>\n

Hofmann said Lake Travis is \u201cseeing the result of the flooding that we’ve had over the last three or four days,\u201d with floodwaters pooling in the lake. He described the flood pool as a critical buffer for communities downstream.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat flood pool at Lake Travis is our insurance policy for Austin and downstream,\u201d Hofmann said.<\/p>\n

The rising water and debris have also kept some residents off the lake.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re not taking out our boat right now because of all the debris and all the logs that we’ve seen coming down the Perdenales and everything,” said Lago Vista resident Ben Bailey. “We’re going to stay away from the lake for a little while.”<\/p>\n

ALSO: Joe Rogan-donated “SHERP” vehicle helped rescue Camp Eagle campers following flooding<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday, Travis County Judge Andy Brown issued an order limiting the recreational use of the Pedernales River and Lake Travis between mile markers 27 to 37, citing debris from recent flooding posing public health and safety hazards. Brown said the ban does not apply to commercial operators, and he urged caution for people enjoying other stretches of the Pedernales and Lake Travis.<\/p>\n

Recent flooding has caused debris and hazards to collect along the Pedernales River and throughout Lake Travis. Because of this threat, it was imperative for Travis County to limit use of Lake Travis between mile marker 27 to 37,\u201d said Travis County Judge Andy Brown. \u201cI encourage the commercial operators to use extreme caution when navigating through that designated area. I encourage the public to exercise caution as you enjoy boating and swimming in the rest of the lake<\/p>\n

Hofmann also urged people to be cautious.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to be very mindful of their safety,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gov. Greg Abbott echoed the warning Friday, saying, \u201cResidents and leaders need to understand the rivers will still rise and still pose life-threatening danger to anybody near those rivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with the hazards, Hofmann said the recent rains and flooding play an important role in Central Texas water supplies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is how in Central Texas our water supplies are replenished,” he said.<\/p>\n

The LCRA announced it will open one floodgate at Buchanan Dam Sunday. The dam serves as the uppermost dam in the Highland Lakes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 Lake Travis reached full capacity for the first time in years after flooding over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-378764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}