Despite heavy rains in Brown County Thursday morning, Lake Brownwood remains more than 10 feet low as it missed the benefits of much of the rainfall. Areas throughout the county reported receiving between 2-4 inches of rain, but officials state that the heaviest rainfall missed the water shed.
According to Brown County Water Improvement District general manager Dennis Spinks, the rains brought only a 0.2 foot increase in the lake level which now stands at 1414.6 ft. msl (mean sea level). The lake remains 10.4 feet below spillway level.
Runoff is still being seen in the north area of the lake above Byrd’s store according to Spinks.
“We may catch some more runoff because there is still water coming in from the north, above Byrd’s store. A lake patrol officer said a creek there had some good runoff, but we’ll probably only see about 0.1 ft at most added to the lake from the remaining runoff,” said Spinks. “Any little bit helps.”
Spinks stated that the county remains on water restrictions and that everyone in the county is on the same restrictions, watering only one day a week. Odd numbered addresses are to only water on Mondays and even numbered addresses may water on Tuesdays.
“Most people are complying with the restrictions, but there are some that do not,” Spinks said.
Spinks stated that BCWID and the area suppliers are trying to catch offenders and are giving out warnings, particularly BCWID and the City of Brownwood. Brownwood is expected to pass an ordinance to implement citations and fines for repeat watering violations.
Spinks encourages residents to make reports of those who refuse to comply with restrictions by calling their water supplier, and giving them an anonymous report with the time and date of the offense along with the specific address where noncompliance is occurring. Spinks said that citizen reports help the water district and water suppliers to conserve the water that is left in Lake Brownwood.
In a statement released on May 2, 2012, Spinks warned that conservation is necessary, and that the lake contains just slightly more than two year’s supply of water.
“According to the best available data, Lake Brownwood currently has approximately a 27 month supply at the level of use that occurred in 2011,” said Spinks. “That time frame can be extended through conservation of water to some extent. However evaporation from the lake cannot be controlled and accounts for up to 60% of lake elevation decline.”
According to current weather predictions, slight (10%) chances of rain are expected a few days next week with the highest probability of a 30% chance of rain on Wednesday. Temperatures again return to the 100+ range with an expected high of 103° on Monday.
