Lake Travis

The reservoir was formed in 1942 by the construction of Mansfield Dam on the western edge of Austin, Texas by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), and was built specifically to contain floodwaters in a flash-flood prone region. During its construction, after a severe flood in July 1938, the height of the dam was raised to add storage capacity for floodwaters.[3][4]

Regularly scheduled ferry service between Point Venture and the south side of Hurst Creek began in April 1971, operated by Point Venture Development Co. The trip took 20 minutes and was the only inland ferry service in Texas at the time.[5][6]

On September 5, 2020, a boat parade took place in support of Donald Trump. The Travis County Sheriff's office reported that they had received multiple calls involving boats in distress, and that several boats had sunk.[7] The weather was calm, but the boats generated significant wake as they began to move together, which subsequently sank at least five boats.[8]

In ranking lakes in Texas for accidental fatalities, Lake Travis was in first-place in 2011 and tied for second-place for total deaths over the years 2000–2015.[9][10]

Six people drowned in Lake Travis in 2018, out of 29 total boating deaths reported across Texas that year.[11]

Lake Travis has been stocked with several species of fish intended to improve the utility of the reservoir for recreational fishing. Fish present in Lake Travis include largemouth bass, guadalupe bass, white bass, striped bass, catfish and sunfish.

In spring 2008 there were several reports of leeches residing in Lake Travis. The leeches are generally harmless to humans but can be a nuisance.[12]

The extreme drought of 2008-2009 brought the lake to its fourth lowest level at 626.09 feet (190.83 m) above msl in November 2009. The second lowest level was 615.02 feet (187.46 m) above msl on November 8, 1963.[15] During the 2010–13 Southern United States drought, levels went as low as 618 feet, making it the third lowest level ever.[16] The LCRA, a public utility whose responsibilities include the management of Lake Travis, makes water level reports available on the internet.[17] In April 2016, the lake returned to its full capacity at 681 ft.

Lake Travis serves as the primary flood control reservoir of the Highland Lake chain. The LCRA, under advisement from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is responsible for floodgate operations at Mansfield Dam. Ideally, this is done in a time-delayed fashion after a major rainfall so as to either mitigate or outright prevent downstream flooding which otherwise would have been both immediate and extreme without the dam's presence. As Lake Travis levels increase during major floods, floodgate operations are conducted to protect property around Lake Travis as well as the dam itself.

While the dam's physical design assists in its own protection during floods, extensive spillway operations, a worst-case scenario which has not happened in the lake's history, could undermine the dam's base and affect its overall integrity. Under such conditions, operations are primarily intended to protect the dam, and lake water may be released to the dam's full, 24-floodgate capacity—regardless of downstream effects—to prevent the catastrophic loss of the dam.[18] Including its hydroelectric generators but not the spillway, at 681 feet above msl the dam's total maximum discharge capacity is more than 130,000 cubic feet per second (cfs); a bit under one million gallons per second.[19] Rates of discharge increase as water levels/pressures increase.