Overnight rains were not a “drought breaker” according to Brown County Water Improvement District general manager Dennis Spinks who stated that Lake Brownwood is still in a very serious drought situation despite the recent rain.
Spinks stated Monday afternoon that most of the county had received about 3 inches in rain and that the lake caught 0.3 of a foot of rain, which was mostly direct rainfall into the lake and very little runoff from the shoreline. He stated that the falling rain, although a good amount, did not have the chance to run into the lakes because the severely parched and cracked ground of the water shed soaked up all that fell onto it. Spinks explained that there was no runoff from rivers and streams into Lake Brownwood with the overnight rain.
“Three inches has put moisture in the ground, which is severely needed, and it relieves pressure on our system,” said Spinks. “Probably nobody should need to water today or tomorrow, our watering days, and maybe won’t need to next week.”
Currently, the lake level is at 1412.14 feet based on the spillway elevation of 1425 msl (mean sea level).
Local forecasts from the National Weather Service state there is a strong chance of rain for the Brownwood area again tonight into Tuesday.
“I hope it does rain again tonight. We’re in a position that the ground is saturated, and if we get more, we could see some runoff,” said Spinks. “This is not a normal system for Texas, especially for rain in July, so we are thankful for the rain. This is not a drought breaker, what we need is a hard fast rain to get really significant water into the lake.”
Spinks stated that although the water situation is still a very serious one, there are still many visitors at the lake, enjoying water recreation, fishing and camping. In fact, the 4th of July weekend saw so many visitors, the campground near Flat Rock had to turn some away because they were at capacity.
“Our lake compared to other West Texas lakes is doing pretty well considering. Our water surface area is still as much or more than Lake Ivie,” said Spinks. “We still have plenty of area to fish, but as the lake goes down, it’s going to be harder to get the big wake boarding boats in and out of our ramps.” Both ramps that are open have a 5 foot depth according to Spinks.
He stated that there is still plenty of open water for recreation and plenty of fish to catch.
BCWID officials plan to meet in the near future with water providers in the area to discuss Stage 4 restrictions and their enforcement.
“Three inches of rain doesn’t mean we won’t go to Stage 4. August could come with days of 102 degrees and winds and that would be very detrimental,” said Spinks. “We’re still in a serious condition and we may need to go to Stage 4.”
Spinks explained that the current rain and days of cloud cover have spared the lake from the usual daily evaporation, “as long as it stays cloudy and rains, the lake level will stay constant.” Spinks stated that the BCWID board of directors could decide to wait until their September board meeting to go to Stage 4 depending if the lake reaches that trigger point of 1411 msl.
