Lake Brownwood is officially overflowing according to Brown County Water Improvement General Manager Dennis Spinks who reported that the lake is currently at six inches above spillway as of 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday.
Brown County experienced heavy rainfall overnight, with 3-6 inches, which even caused some roadway flooding.
Spinks stated that Lake Brownwood has not had water flow over the spillway in more than 8 years, the last time was in April of 2007.
“We are 6-inches above spillway and it’s raining hard at 9:00 a.m.,” said Spinks. “We’ve got crews out looking at the Jim Ned and the Pecan Bayou to determine how much water is flowing and what level we can expect Lake Brownwood to get to.”
He stated that current estimates are that the lake will be 2 feet or more above spillway with the rainfall that has hit the watershed yesterday and overnight.
When the lake is full, there is approximately 5 years of water supply. Although this is ample supply for now, Spinks stated that the Brown County Water Improvement District’s board of directors is not going to stop looking for an alternative source of water for Brown County.
“We’re still not going to stop looking for an alternative source of water. In about two to three years, we could be back to 50% capacity at the lake,” explained Spinks. “There could be 3-4 feet loss in a year’s time during a drought, so we are still working on finding an alternative source.”
Spinks stated that the BCWID board has hired a consulting firm from Stephenville that is currently looking at aquifers in the eastern part of Brown County, particularly the Trinity Aquifer. It is hoped that the upper Trinity Aquifer and some below it will be a valid alternative water source for the county.
The consulting firm is expected to report to the BCWID board at their August meeting, which will help board members decide what the next step will be.
Having the lake full currently takes pressure off of Spinks and the rest of the board. He stated that with the lake at capacity, the board has more time to make a better decision.
“There’s nothing critical at this point, we can do the research to make the best decision,” said Spinks. “This gives us time to explore any avenues that are out there, if there are any alternatives for Brown County, and what it costs to obtain that water.”
Spinks stated that the thought right now is worry about too much water, which is a nice change from the past several years. “Right now, we are worried about too much water, how high above spillway are we going to go.”
The level of flooding depends on how much water has fallen on Brownwood and in the creeks in the area. Spinks stated that the Pecan Bayou is not currently full but is running well.
Spinks stated that he doesn’t think there will be widespread flooding but that at 5’ over spillway, the Pecan Bayou will go out of its banks and cause flooding at Riverside Park and some county roadways, making them impassable, especially those south of the Brownwood area. Over 5 feet above spillway will cause flooding into the business district on Hwy 377 in Brownwood, the area around Tractor Supply, Home Depot, and WalMart.
Above and below are photos of the spillway and rainfall at Lake Brownwood, contributed by Fred Spencer.
