CANYON LAKE, Texas – Rain showers have introduced a glimmer of hope for the long run of Canyon Lake.
“Thank God for the heavy rain,” mentioned Scott Degrassi, president of Canyon Lake Vacations.
Degrassi mentioned he has lived at Canyon Lake for years and has caught by way of the lake’s facet thru its highs and lows.
“I moved out here in 2012 when we were 12 feet low, and we did have a couple of 500-year rains that winter, and it filled up in one season,” mentioned Degrassi.
The trade proprietor is hoping for extra rain within the forecast.
“Obviously, an inch or two is not going to reflect that much, but we do need some heavy rainfall for a period of time,” mentioned Degrassi.
The extended drought brought about water ranges on the lake to achieve a ancient low. Degrassi mentioned the lake has now dropped from 14 ft to 18 ft low.
“Since they have been in truth filling up the lake within the ‘60s, we have not been this low,” said Degrassi.
Leaving the shoreline can be tricky once a boat is on the water, as the drought has exposed new dangers for boaters.
“As the waters recede a little bit, every time I put in the boat, I do see a few extra tree stumps that I hadn’t noticed sooner than. I see a sandbar that I haven’t noticed sooner than,” Degrassi mentioned. “That’s why I encourage anyone that comes out to charter a boat with a captain, someone that is very familiar with the lake and knows all the hotspots to go to and certainly knows where the low-lying areas are, like the sandbars and the tree stumps.”
But even with low water ranges, Degrassi mentioned the lake nonetheless boasts nice depths.
“Once you get on the water, Canyon makes a very deep lake. We’re at 160 to 180 feet at its peak,” mentioned Degrassi.
The drought has uncovered remnants of a town submerged. The trade proprietor has heard of graveyard tombstones being sighted on the lake, and now underwater caves are on complete show.
“It’s very exciting that the silver lining in all of this is it has revealed some of our beautiful landmarks, such as the underwater caves and a few other things that you’ll see here,” Degrassi mentioned. “Canyon Lake originally was a city, and it being a limestone bottom, on a very sunny day, you can see 15, 16 feet down. It’s one of the few scuba-diving certified lakes, so you can actually scuba dive to the town below and to the post office that used to be there, the original post office. So there are a lot of things to see.”
While it will take an important quantity of rain for a chronic duration to get the lake to an optimum stage, Degrassi mentioned tourism is alive and thriving.
“People are still renting Airbnbs. They’re still bringing out their family camper, staying at one of our RV resorts and either chartering a boat, taking out their kayaks, taking out their paddleboards, and now they’re able to see some of these beautiful landmarks that maybe you hadn’t seen before,” mentioned Degrassi.
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