Floodwaters from weeks of historic flooding in the Texas Hill Country are now flowing down the Frio and Nueces rivers into Choke Canyon Reservoir, pushing water levels up by approximately 225,000 acre-feet — a jump of 34%.
Stephen Emerson, reservoir supervisor at Choke Canyon Dam, said the rise has been significant.
"We've come up about 2.5 feet, from 179 up to 181.7," Emerson said.
Forecasters say more water is on the way. The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for the Nueces River near Three Rivers in Live Oak County, with the river forecast to reach 33.7 feet by Tuesday. That level represents moderate flood stage and is close to major flood stage.
At Choke Canyon State Park, a 75-acre lake inside the park that had been dry for months is now filling back up. Park Superintendent José Uribe said the inflow has been substantial.
"There's about 19 to 20,000 CFS of water coming into the lake," Uribe said.
Uribe said the returning water could be good news for boaters who have been unable to use the park's boat ramp. Seeing water return to areas that had been dry for months has come as a relief.
"We're thoroughly happy about start seeing this water back in parts of the lake that it's been dry for the last couple months," Uribe said.
The question now is whether enough water will continue flowing in to reopen boat access.
"We hope that with this water, the lake levels will get enough so we can reopen the boat ramps," Uribe said.
However, Uribe made clear the reservoir still has a long way to go before reaching full capacity.
"When the lake is full, technically the water should be a couple feet from where I'm standing," Uribe said.
The numbers are moving in the right direction, and crews at Choke Canyon will continue monitoring how much more water is on the way.
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