LCRA to Open 2 Mansfield Dam Floodgates as Lake Travis Hits Conservation-Pool Capacity
Updated
Updated · KUT · Jul 17
LCRA to Open 2 Mansfield Dam Floodgates as Lake Travis Hits Conservation-Pool Capacity
3 articles · Updated · KUT · Jul 17
Summary
At least two Mansfield Dam floodgates will open Saturday — the first around 6 a.m. and the second around 1 p.m. — after Lake Travis filled to the top of its conservation pool.
Torrential Hill Country rains drove the release, and LCRA said gate openings depend on whether downstream Colorado River levels can absorb the added flow without rising too much.
Tom Miller Dam downstream is set to open a floodgate Friday to clear the way for Saturday's releases, while multiple gates at Wirtz and Starcke dams upstream already remain open.
The Mansfield opening is the first since 2019 and is relatively rare, but LCRA said Lake Travis still has 776,062 acre-feet of flood-pool capacity beyond its water-supply storage.
Faster currents and higher water levels are expected downstream even without an immediate risk that Lake Travis will run out of flood-storage space.