Central Texans enjoy Lake Travis over Memorial Day despite low lake levels

AUSTIN, Texas - Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start to boating season. 

At Lake Travis, there are lots of areas of dry land where there used to be water.

The LCRA River Report says the lake is currently 46% full. That changes how some people get on the water.

"What used to be a short walk right down this sidewalk has now forced us to buy a golf cart just to get up and back to the boat because that's a 300 yard walk now," Kenneth Hausmann said.

"We have a friend who lives on the lake, and she's shown us how much the water can change, like their dock will have to completely get switched throughout different years based on how low the water is," Kennedy Williams said.

"The lake is a lot more dangerous," Hausmann said. "There's a lot more islands, so boats hit them, they don't realize that the deep part of the lake is on the edge, it's not in the middle."

Hausmann says he's seen all extremes at the lake: it's all part of the ebb and flow.

"Normally the amount of traffic would be staggering," he said. "You'd hear motors and wave runners and all that stuff, but because of this and because a lot of the peripheral businesses are closed down too, it's less of a thriving place than it was. It'll come back. It's kind of like a seasonal business anyway, and when you don't have water, it's kind of like off-season."

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While he says there's not nearly as many people at the lake this weekend, it's not stopping him and others from having fun. 

"Honestly, it's a little bit depressing because we like to see all the activity, and people come up and go to the restaurants, and it's kind of a skeleton crew out here right now," he said.

"There's still plenty of water. There's still enough," Danny Wingfield said with a laugh. "The water levels aren't impacting the amount of fun you can have."