According to Brown County Water Improvement District General Manager Dennis Spinks, after the weekend rainfall, Lake Brownwood has risen approximately 2 feet and is at an elevation of 1413.74 mean sea level (msl) which is 11.26 feet below spillway level as of Monday at noon. 

Rainfall of 2.5-4 inches was pretty well widespread across the county, with 1.5-2 inches across the watershed, according to Spinks.  The two foot rise in elevation was a nice surprise to Spinks.

“I didn’t expect the elevation would increase quite as much as it did since most of the rain fell heavier south of the dam and in the southern part of Brownwood,” said Spinks.   

With the increase in the elevation of the lake, Spinks explained that now the Brown County Water Improvement District will need to look at the Drought Contingency Plan, how to possibly back off of the existing restrictions, by looking at levels in reverse to determine what measures can be taken currently and to look at revising the Drought Contingency Plan in whole.

“The Drought Contingency Plan wasn’t set up for a drought like we went through last year.  Maybe restrictions can be set in place sooner before we get into the period of such hot and dry measures,” said Spinks who further explained, “The first stage was informative and suggested a 2% reduction in water use, maybe that needs to be 5%.  Stages 2 and 3 will also need to be looked at for more reduction of water usage.”

In the 75 year history of the lake, the elevation of the lake had never been as low as it was last October with the exception of a time when the gates got stuck open when a log jammed into them in the 1930s according to Spinks.  Again in 1978 during a drought, the lake’s elevation sank to approximately 1409 msl, which was passed by 6 inches this past October at 1408.6 msl said Spinks.

“This drought has been something truthfully that we never anticipated,” said Spinks.  “Hopefully next summer won’t be as bad although the predictions are still hot and dry.  So far this year, it has been abnormally wet.”

According to Spinks, since last October, the lake has seen a 5-foot rise in elevation since its lowest point.

“It was a good rain, a relief.  A 2-foot rise in elevation is excellent this year,” said Spinks.   “Now there is a good year’s supply.  We’re in much better shape now than we were 6 months ago.”

In looking at a graph of the lake level from 2007 through February 2012, Spinks explained that the lake had seen a steady decline over the five year period.  In 2007, the lake was at spillway and steadily declined with slight increases in 2008 and another in 2010. 

“We really only had 3 significant rains in that time period,” said Spinks in relation to rains affecting the lake’s elevation.”

Pictured above:  Water flowing to Lake Brownwood from a nearby property.  Photo courtesy Eric Evans.