Lake Brownwood is currently almost 13 feet low, but officials at the Brown County Water Improvement District #1 (BCWID) say that the area is still better off than this time last year.

“We are much better off today than we were a year ago,” said BCWID General Manager Dennis Spinks.

Spinks said that Lake Brownwood is currently 12.87 feet below spillway level which is almost two feet better than this time last year.   This puts the lake at 47.54% capacity and is declining at a rate of about a tenth of a foot in elevation every three days.  The lake lost about a half foot of elevation since this time last month which is about 3000 acre feet of water.

Spinks said that the area is still in Stage 3 of their drought contingency plan, but with cooler weather ahead and rain in the forecast, he said that he does not expect to see Stage 4 soon.

“We will not hit Stage 4 until 1411 (feet), that probably will not occur until October or November at the earliest,” Spinks said.  “I don’t think we will be looking at Stage 4 for quite a while if at all.”

Currently, boat ramps on Lake Brownwood are still open at the dam and the State Park.