CENTRAL TEXAS — 2023 has been a rough year for rainfall in Central Texas and the Brazos Valley. As we head into the new year, we take a look at where our lake levels are at now compared to a few months ago.
- The Brazos River Authority’s water supply is 76% full.
- Lake Whitney is at 100 percent capacity and Lake Waco is at 99% capacity, but Belton Lake and Stillhouse hollow lake are still in level 2 drought levels.
- To help fill lower lake levels, our region needs quick heavy rainfall.
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“The rain we’ve got has helped a little bit, but make no mistake, we are certainly in some measure of a drought throughout the Brazos space,” Dr. Peyton Lisenby said.
This is what our regions drought levels looked like in September, and this is what it looks like now, Peyton Lisenby with the Brazos River authority tells me with the recent rainfall, Lake Whitney is at 100% capacity, Lake Granbury is at 99% capacity. But lakes in southern Central Texas haven’t been so lucky.
“Those three lakes in the little river system in Stillhouse hollow and Georgetown you know are somewhere between 16 and 18ish feet low. And they’ve kind of been fighting it out there for some time,” Peyton Lisenby said.
Our 25 News meteorologist Josh Johns said the reason for that is because the rains we have received fell west of I-35.
“As you look at the map behind me, pursuing normal rainfall since July, we had a lot of rain up here in the watershed that rolls right into Lake Waco and Lake Whitney, not as much rain in areas that would help Belton and Stillhouse hollow and there's still a lot of area that really missed out of their normal rainfall," Josh Johns said.
To help fill those lakes Josh Johns said we need heavy quick rainfall.
“If we enter a neutral or a La Niña phase heading into the summer that would tend to suggest drier weather and hotter weather here in Central Texas and that’s what we don’t want to add on to this especially when lakes are struggling,” Josh Johns said.
The Brazos River Authority’s water supply is 76% full, and with that number Dr. Lisenby is hopeful for what’s to come.
“Our system is in good shape. Even you know the lakes that are quite low 16-18 feet, they’re still in a stage one drought condition. But they have a long way to go before we get into stage 3 drought conditions,” Dr. Lisenby said.
The Brazos River Authority reservoirs are in still in a stage one drought. Belton Lake and Stillhouse hollow Lake are in Stage 2 drought. Dr. Lisenby said those lakes are a long way from stage 3 drought.
