We are still in a drought, folks...

[G Grasshopper]

Originally Posted by cBach

But would dredging be preferable to building a brand new dam, with the carbon footprint of constructing it, then dismantling the current dam, which could unleash questionable building materials into the lake (asbestos, whatever, we know the environmental standards weren't there in the 40's.)

I guess you can't win for losing on this one. The only good thing is this won't be a problem in either of our lifetimes.

I'm no engineer, so I couldn't really answer that question. But the long term problems of building dams in the first place are more and more being realized, and I know many are rethinking the wisdom of building new ones, and trying to come up with other systems of storing/managing water.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

I'm no engineer, so I couldn't really answer that question. But the long term problems of building dams in the first place are more and more being realized, and I know many are rethinking the wisdom of building new ones, and trying to come up with other systems of storing/managing water.

But you're forgetting that the main reason the dams were built was for flood protection. Downtown Austin would regularly get flooded when there was a torrential rain in the Hill Country. Without the dams, downtown, which is not very high elevation wise above Town Lake, would be especially vulnerable.

[G Grasshopper]

Originally Posted by cBach

But you're forgetting that the main reason the dams were built was for flood protection. Downtown Austin would regularly get flooded when there was a torrential rain in the Hill Country. Without the dams, downtown, which is not very high elevation wise above Town Lake, would be especially vulnerable.

Good point. I wonder if there are new designs for dams that can provide flood control without the classic problems of dams. I don't know, but it would be interesting to know.

[die Eichkatze]

[/quote][quote=atxcio;18073812]I doubt we have to worry about the lake running dry; a lot of the Colorado watershed upstream is not in that bad of a drought. Also, long-term predictions are normal, not drought, for most of the watershed (and most of the Austin area except the east part): http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/product...db/lbfinal.gif

Upstream lakes are nearly empty: OC Fisher: 0% full; EV Spence: 3% full; Lake JB Thomas: 5% full; OH Ivie: 31% full.
You can read the monthly Texas Water Conditions report here:
TWDB > Water Conditions Report

You can read about lake volume/sedimentation studies here: Assistance Area


Another piece of info to put things in perspective....
In 1952, over 20 inches of rain fell over the Hill Country in a 24 hour period, causing a massive flood along the Pedernales River. It took out the Hwy 281 bridge near Johnson City, and the river was reportly 60 ft over Hammett's Crossing. Lake Travis stood at its all time low, 619 ft. Within a 24 hour period Lake Travis rose 57 feet to 676ft! The lake gained over 700,000 acre feet of water in 24 hours. (or a little over 228 Billion gallons)

Sorry about the links....they won't allow me to post links until I have been here for a few days

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by atxcio

I doubt we have to worry about the lake running dry; a lot of the Colorado watershed upstream is not in that bad of a drought. Also, long-term predictions are normal, not drought, for most of the watershed (and most of the Austin area except the east part): http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/product...db/lbfinal.gif

Upstream lakes are nearly empty: OC Fisher: 0% full; EV Spence: 3% full; Lake JB Thomas: 5% full; OH Ivie: 31% full.
You can read the monthly Texas Water Conditions report here:
TWDB > Water Conditions Report

You can read about lake volume/sedimentation studies here: Assistance Area


Another piece of info to put things in perspective....
In 1952, over 20 inches of rain fell over the Hill Country in a 24 hour period, causing a massive flood along the Pedernales River. It took out the Hwy 281 bridge near Johnson City, and the river was reportly 60 ft over Hammett's Crossing. Lake Travis stood at its all time low, 619 ft. Within a 24 hour period Lake Travis rose 57 feet to 676ft! The lake gained over 700,000 acre feet of water in 24 hours. (or a little over 228 Billion gallons)

Sorry about the links....they won't allow me to post links until I have been here for a few days

Cough, cough... say what??? Could you repeat that in english please... before the flood if possible......? ............

[cBach]

It looks to be a very dry year. I had to finally break down and turn the sprinkler onto the summer schedule (twice per week).

[mayfair44]

"The eight months from October 2010 through May 2011 have been the driest eight-month period on record for Texas since 1895. Rainfall in Austin was 38 percent of normal..."
Drought Update

Not looking good this quarter...
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/product...on_drought.gif

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by mayfair44

"The eight months from October 2010 through May 2011 have been the driest eight-month period on record for Texas since 1895. Rainfall in Austin was 38 percent of normal..."
Drought Update

Not looking good this quarter...
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/product...on_drought.gif

No kidding...each of the (now) 4 summers we've been here have been record setters in one heat/drought related category or another. I could'a sworn "y'all" said the weather went in 2/1 year cycles...two years of drought, one year of rain. Two years of high heat, one year of 'cooler/mid-90s' weather to balance. I'd love to have some of those 'average' days of 90-95 during the summer. Seems like we have had WAY too many triple-digits temps during the past four summers! Dang!

Last time we got any significant rain here in Avery Ranch was last Sept. during the 13" flood in one day...haven't had that much IN TOTAL since!

[cBach]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

No kidding...each of the (now) 4 summers we've been here have been record setters in one heat/drought related category or another. I could'a sworn "y'all" said the weather went in 2/1 year cycles...two years of drought, one year of rain. Two years of high heat, one year of 'cooler/mid-90s' weather to balance. I'd love to have some of those 'average' days of 90-95 during the summer. Seems like we have had WAY too many triple-digits temps during the past four summers! Dang!

Last time we got any significant rain here in Avery Ranch was last Sept. during the 13" flood in one day...haven't had that much IN TOTAL since!

And if you remember that was due to a tropical event, in and out. Had that not happened we would be in even worse shape.

[sanmiguel]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g_As...e_gdata_player