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June 27, 2007

Wow! 3 months. 44 feet.

Somebody forgot to tell me that Seattle was relocated to Austin. It's been a long, long time since I've seen this much rain, so often, for a 3 month stretch.

Lake Travis is now 9 feet above full at 690 feet above sea level. It's historic high is 710 feet. At 714 feet it spills over the spillway uncontrollably into Lake Austin. I used to think that would be nearly impossible given how low it was, but 44 feet in three months makes me wonder...

Lake Travis Water Level at Mansfiled Dam on June 27, 2007

UPDATE: Here's some pictures we took this evening.

Four floodgates open creating major whitewater at the head of Lake Austin:
4FloodgatesOpenMansfieldDam062707.jpg

Our picnic area in Mansfield Dam park above the beach area is now under water. So is the boat ramp which is the highest level of any of the Lake Travis boat ramps:
MansfieldDamPicnicAreaUnderWater062707.jpg

Here's a view of the main basin from our deck. Note that the usual ring of limestone rock around the water's edge in almost gone:
ViewOfMainLakeTravisBasin062707.jpg

More heavy rains forecasted for overnight and into the weekend...

Posted by Jim at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Comments ()