(WACO, Texas) — After a brutal summer of heat and drought, Central Texas received some relief in the form of rainfall last week — but Waco Lake is still sitting 2.5 feet below normal levels.
Waco received 4.5 inches of rain, which was enough to raise the lake only 1 foot.
WATCH HERE:
"They said we were expecting about five inches of rain over a whole watershed, so we had an internal meeting, discussed what would need to be put in place. We were 3 feet low, so that kind of helps us gauge where we need to be wind prepping. Luckily, this one, since the ground was so dry, it's soaked up all the rain pretty much. And so all we really did, this time, was pull docks out of the water so they wouldn't go under," said Cara Niemietz, park ranger at Waco Lake.
Most of Central Texas was under a flood watch for much of last week, leaving neighbors concerned about flooding — especially near the Brazos River.
Niemietz said there is not enough water in the lake to release into either the Bosque or Brazos rivers.
"We don't know what the lake's gonna do. We don't know how the rain is going to affect it until it starts raining, and all we can do from then is react to what is going on with the watershed and the rain and how the lake is being affected by that. But that's why we have certain procedures and policies set in place. So when we do notice that trend going up, we are all ready to go," Niemietz said.
El Niño conditions favor a rainier winter season. Niemietz said she hopes that will put the lake back to normal levels ahead of the recreational season.
