Lake Travis Lake Levels Still Low and Hindering Waterfront Home Sales. The elevation of Lake Travis today is 654 feet msl. This summer, the lake reached historic lows due to exceptional drought but rain this fall helped raise the lake over 15 feet to date. Many area home owners think the lake levels are nearly back to normal but this is not the case.
Area news stations report lake levels daily and give a misleading view of how low the lake remains because they report how many feet below "average" the level is for that day. Average does not mean full. Lake Travis fluctuates from its full pool elevation of 681 feet, and the "average level for December over the years is 668. At 668 feet, the lake is still 13 feet below full.
Any lake level at Lake Travis below 681 feet means dry coves, longer walks to the water, steeper drops from cliffs and harder-to-navigage boat ramps. Waterfront home owners suffer a loss of property value when the lake is anywhere below full. Views retreat, neighboring docks compete for space and access to the water decreases. Trespassers also take advantage of low levels when they have access across exposed land to reach private property that is normally inaccessible.
The truth is: Lake Travis is over 25 feet too low! 25 vertical feet of water is missing from the lake due to drought. Rainfall has been infrequent in the last several weeks and inflow rates are declining. There is no significant rain in the forecast.
Low lake levels hinder waterfront home sales even more than a seasonal decline in home buying activity. Who wants to buy a "waterfront home" that may not even have water in front of it? Buyers who are willing to buy with the lake low will find bargain prices if they act now before the lake comes up.
Wow what a bummer! It is easy to see why it would hinder sales.