Beginning Oct. 1, the Lower Colorado River Authority will lower Inks Lake by about 8 feet this fall to provide property owners an opportunity to work on docks, boat slips and other shoreline structures like retaining walls, dredge up to 2,000 cubic yards of material and remove debris from the lake and shoreline.
Gradual Lowering
LCRA will slowly lower the lake by about a foot a day beginning Wednesday, Oct. 1. The lake will be at its fully lowered level of 879-879.5 feet above mean sea level by Thursday, Oct. 9. The refill will begin Monday, Nov. 24, and will conclude by Friday, Nov. 28. Inks Lake was last lowered in 2020. LCRA currently does not plan to lower any of the other pass-through lakes (lakes Marble Falls, LBJ and Austin) this year. The next opportunity for a routine drawdown will be next fall, and LCRA will make a determination about which lakes, if any, will be lowered next year based on conditions at that time. In the past, LCRA lowered lakes for shoreline maintenance and dock repair in January-February, but now performs drawdowns in the fall to ensure the hydroelectric generators at the dams can be fully operational in the winter, when electricity use can rise dramatically.
