News

• Travis County Weather
  Dramatic Rise and Fall of Lake Travis
  • July 1964 - Lazy J Slough at 622'
  • February 2007 - Lazy J Slough at 647'
  • June 2007 - Lazy J Slough at 689'
  • June 2009 - Lazy J Slough at 647'
  • July 2009 - Lazy J Slough at 638'
  • Aug 31, 2009 Lazy J Slough at 631.75
• 9 Sep 2009  Lazy J Slough at 630 feet
• 24 Oct 2009  Lazy J Slough at 641 feet
• 5 Feb 2010 Lazy J Slough at 674 feet
• 3 Sep 2011 Lazy J Slough at 634 feet
• 30 Sep 2011 Lazy J Slough at 629.09 feet
• 23 Mar 2012 Lazy J Slough at 634.65 feet
• 15 Sep 2012 Slight Bump from Recent Rain
• 6 Aug 2013 Lazy J Boat dock at 623.87 feet
• 6 Aug 2013 Lazy J Slough at 623.87 feet
• 17 Aug 2013 Lechedra I at 622.23
• 15 Sep 2013 Lazy J Slough at 619.48
• 15 Sep 2013 Boat Docks at 619.48
• 15 Sep 2013 Slough looking towards lake 619.48
• 18 Mar 2016 Lake Travis is full at 681
  
• Drought Conditions Continue
  The eight months from October 2010 through May 2011 were the driest eight-month period on record for Texas since 1895.  The drought continued through the summer of 2015.  The Lazy J regularly puts out water, protein blocks and high protein feed to sustain the does and fawns through the dry periods. 
  The good news is that as of 18 Mar 2016 Central Texas is no longer in a drought condition and Lake Travis is full at 681 feet, the first time it has reached that level since May 2010.
  The lake has risen more than 60 feet since reaching a near-record low point of 618.56 in September 2013.  The drought officially ended in the spring of 2015 with the Memorial Day weekend storms that brought devastating floods to San Marcos, Wimberley and other parts of Central Texas. That was followed during the summer of 2015 with a micro-drought, followed by more flooding in late October 2015.  By January 2016 another micro-dought settled in before being broken by two heavy rains two weeks apart in February and March. 
  As of January, 1917 the Austin area is officially drought free.  Austin received 39" of rain which is just above the average rainfall, which has produced little recharge and resulted in aquifer water level decline.  While levels are going down, the benefits of previous wet years have provided a bolster against this drop. 
• Rainwater Collection
  The rainwater collection system, installed in 2009 on the Lazy J Ranch, holds 16,000 gallons. It has sustained the water use of the House on the Hill though the drought.
  
• Oak Wilt
  Oak Wilt Spcialists confirmed that dead oak trees on the ranch are due to drought and not Oak Wilt.  There is Oak Wilt in the neighborhood and it is important to seal each cut in an Oak tree, no matter the time of year. 
• Wildlife Management Workdays
  • New growth juniper removal - pick your area
  • Thinning of Agerita and Persimmon under Oak trees
  • Nest Box building and installation
  • Rip Rap installation in erosion areas
  • Log placement on ridges to control erosion
  • Location/protection of new growth Spanish Oaks
  • Removal of trees killed by drought - Oak, Elm, and Ash Juniper
  • Spring Bird Counts
  • Spraying of small new growth prickly pears and mesquite trees with TAMU Brush Busters Remedy formula
  • Mechanical removal of prickley pears
  • Spraying and removal of invasive Star Thistles
  • Fire Ant Control - March through June

Limestone rock formation caused by water erosion

GoLakeTravis

LCRA Central Texas Drought

Bob Rose's Weather Blog

Current Lake Levels

Historic Lake Levels

Pagosa Sun