AUSTIN—Responding to requests from the community, the LCRA Board of Directors approved an extended eight-week period for lowering
Lake LBJ at its Board meeting today, Oct. 17.
Beginning Jan. 2, 2008, Lake LBJ will be lowered by about 5 feet for up to eight weeks to give lakeside residents the opportunity to repair and maintain docks, retaining walls and other shoreline property, and to clear debris from lake front properties following the June 2007 flood event. LCRA officials expect it to take about three days to draw down the lake and three or four days to refill.
LCRA, which last lowered Lake LBJ in 2005, received requests from the Lake LBJ Advisory Panel and lakeside residents for the lowering. The Lake LBJ advisory panel consists of citizen volunteers who advise LCRA on issues affecting the lake. Panelists serve three-year terms and represent landowners, businesses and other lakeside interests.
LCRA staff planned the timing of the lake lowering to fall outside of the tropical storm season, avoid the peak river system demand period (March through October) and the prime fish spawning that begins in March. Lowering Lake LBJ by up to 5 feet is not expected to interfere with raw water intakes on Lake LBJ, including the intake for LCRA’s Thomas C. Ferguson Power Plant.
LCRA officials emphasize that the lake may have to be refilled quickly in a flood or if hydroelectric generating units need to be operated on the upper Highland Lakes in a weather emergency. Residents should be prepared to remove materials and equipment on short notice if the lake needs to be refilled.
To streamline approval processes and eliminate requirements for duplicative permits, LCRA is obtaining a lakewide permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for most routine repairs and maintenance work. Any property owner planning to perform work will need to register and obtain a copy of the lakewide permit, which LCRA will make available at local offices starting Dec. 1, 2007. Maintenance activities covered by the lakewide permit include:
- Dredging up to 2,000 cubic yards of material from below the 825 feet above mean sea level contour of Lake LBJ;
- Repairing existing structures such as retaining walls, boat slips and boat launches; and
- Cleaning up debris.
All debris must be relocated to an area above the 825 feet contour for disposal. Burning of material in the lakebed is not allowed.
New construction including retaining walls, boat ramps or channels is not allowed under the lakewide permit. All projects not covered by the lakewide permit will fall under LCRA’s Dredge and Fill Standards. Property owners can call LCRA at 1-800-776-5272, Ext. 2324 to get information about LCRA’s Dredge and Fill Standards or to ask questions about the lakewide permit.
