AUSTIN (KXAN) — The push to lower water levels at Lake Austin continues as shareholders plan to meet with city of Austin officials next week. Business owners and residents said that lowering water levels will help stop the spread of a invasive plant that is dangerous to swimmers and boat owners.
On Friday, Eric Moreland with Friends of Lake Austin posted a video on social media announcing a public meeting held by the city. The meeting is scheduled over Zoom on Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m.
“At the meeting, we’ll update you about hydrilla and stocking of sterile grass carp as well as a potential lowering of the lake in 2026,” a statement read on the meeting invite.
Over the summer, hydrilla blooms spread across the lake. In June, a survey found that only 5% of the lake had hydrilla in it. By late summer, a new survey found hydrilla had spread to 38%.
A similar level of hydrilla in the early-2000’s led to a movement to remove the hydrilla, which the Friends of Lake Austin said can entangle boaters and swimmers.
This fall, the group began a push to drawdown the lake by several feet. They cited studies that said a drawdown can help kill off hydrilla. The city argued the opposite, showing studies that found a drawdown has no impact.
The city said that the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) has final approval on a lake drawdown, but this might not be possible. The LCRA told KXAN that following the winter storms, all hydroelectric operations in Texas are required to work at peak capacity during the winter months. This means a drawdown would not be possible until after winter.
The city must make a formal request for a drawdown. Homeowners and businessowners, like Moreland, point out that a drawdown would not only allow the group to remove the hydrilla, but also do much needed repairs on docks.
The city released 1,955 sterile grass carp into Lake Austin on Wednesday, Nov. 5. This is in addition to the 350 sterile grass carp released this past summer, bringing the total to 2,300. Grass carp feed on hydrilla as their primary food source.
“What studies have shown is that as long as there is hydrilla present, they will kind of focus on that resource, allowing other plants to persist and thrive,” said Dr. Brent Bellinger, conservation program supervisor with the city’s Watershed Protection Department.
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