Written by Ben Cox – John Allen, General Manager of the Brown County Water Improvement District, says the water level at Lake Brownwood is “rising, and continuing to rise” after recent rain fall.

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With rain in the forecast for much of the past week, and predicted over the next few days, Brownwood residents will be relieved to know that a large amount of the rainwater is being collected in the lake.

“From 7:30 yesterday morning to 6:30 this morning, we went up four tenths of a foot, which is a lot considering the size of Lake Brownwood.”

The increase saw approxomately 2,111 acre-feet of water added to the lake. (One Acre-Foot equals over 325,000 square feet.) This increase in volume for the lake translates to over 99 more acres underwater when “spread across the entirety of Lake Brownwood”. The lake has risen steadily, close to a tenth of a foot every hour since noon today, according to the Water Improvement District.

Allen says that last year, “irrigation and city customers used 10,000 acre-feet of water. We’ve gained a fifth of that in just 24 hours, with more to come today.”

Sitting at 7.32 feet below the spillway on the 11th of October, Lake Brownwood now sits at 6.16 feet below, an increase of over a foot in just six days. At the time of release of this article, the lake was at 1418.84 feet.

Allen says he is hopeful the lake will rise to “under the 5 ft low range, but it could go more than that depending on what the weather does.” The drought Stage 1 restriction tripper point is 5 feet below the spillway.

The watershed is running, according to Allen, so the level should continue to rise over the next few days.

When asked about the current drought restrictions Allen said residents are “possibly still going to be in voluntary restrictions, but (the rain) will help with the drought conditions. You just don’t know what the weather is going to do, but things should improve.”

Information about the increasing levels at Lake Brownwood can be found by clinking the USGS Conditions link on the Water Improvement’s website.

UPDATE: AS OF 3:30 ON 10-18-18 THE LAKE LEVEL IS 3.61 FEET BELOW THE SPILLWAY

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