BELL COUNTY, Texas — "Its a big relief to see we are getting rain in the water shed — Leon's river is flowing a little bit and we haven't been this at ease coming into the summer in a few years, so its good to see," said Richard Garrett, WCID 1.
Right now, water levels for Belton Lake are a little less than five feet below normal — it's something WCID General Manager Richard Garrett says we haven't seen in years.
"Just about five feet, a little less — we haven't been at normal level since about August of 2021," Garrett said.
Stillhouse Hollow Lake currently sits at 609 feet — up from the record low of 602.13 from just this past October.
The seven-foot increase is as improvement, but that's still 13 feet below normal lake levels.
As a result, the beaches at Stillhouse remain closed.
John Thibodeaux, Stillhouse Lake manager ranger says another 10 feet of water is needed to reopen.
Cedar Gap is the only boat ramp closed right now, but it is set to reopen soon.
All other lakes are open for our neighbors to enjoy fishing and boating — just like Terry Cashion, a local pastor enjoying his day off.
"I'm encouraged to see the waters coming up, its a beautiful day, I feel blessed to be out here," Cashion said.
Meteorologist Caleb Chevalier says we've been experiencing a lake-level resurgence.
"Look how much is drought-free last year in early May — everywhere along west and 35 was in moderate to severe drought," he said.
"Two years ago, lots of the map especially to the left was in exceptional drought the worst category."
With more rain on the way this weekend, there's still some uncertainty heading into summer.
"Its still a little early to tell really what kind of picture we have for our summer, I'd say lets get through spring first and we will see what we have there," Chevalier said.
