June Showers Bring Flooding to Central Texas Lake

Recent weather has caused quite a stir in many areas of the country. Among the hardest hit are parts of Texas, to include the central Texas area of Lake Whitney. Because of late spring and summer rains, major flooding has occurred in Lake Whitney, as well as surrounding areas. Major news outlets have picked up on the flooding further south in more populous areas of the state, but there are major issues that have affected livelihood and recreation of residents further to the north in the rural districts as well.

Lake Whitney was created when the Brazos river was dammed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1946 and 1951, with construction of a power plant taking place a few years later. The initial reason for creating the lake was for flood control of areas further south, to include Waco. Many earlier settlements were inundated by the creation of the lake, including site such as Towash (named for the chief of Hainai Indians, who moved into the area in 1835), and Steiner (who's Baptist church was moved into a non-lake area and is still in use today). Creation of the power plant was a side benefit that has had long-lasting implications for the local economy.

The recent flooding had concerned many full-time residents as well as recreational users of the lake. The Corps of Engineer controlled parks as well as the Lake Whitney State Park have been closed due to the flooding for a few weeks now. The lake appears to have crested at a level of 556.88' on July 5th, 2007, and is now receding at a slow level. The picture in this article shows the flood gates open full blast on July 10th, 2007, when the Corps' website reports a release rate of 20,125 cubic feet (150,545 gallons) per second of water. The level of the lake when this picture was taken was 555.65'. According to lake manager Ronnie Bruggman the highest level that water has ever reached on the lake was 562', still below the maximum reservoir capacity of 571'. Although current lake levels have caused recreational parks to close and the shoreline to advance significantly, residential structures should be safe, since they are required to be above the flood plain.