Waco lifts drought restrictions after 15-foot rise on Lake Waco

Heavy rains that damaged property and flooded bridges upstream along North Bosque River filled the lake for the first time since September 2021, then pushed it to a minor flood level.

By midday Monday, the lake stood at 465.27 feet above sea level, 3 feet over the conservation pool elevation of 462.2 feet.

Before the flooding began on Oct. 26, the lake level stood just above 450 feet, 12 feet below the normal level and just inches away from triggering the city of Waco’s Stage 3 water-use restrictions.

Now the Stage 2 drought restrictions the city has enforced since July 2022 have been lifted, Assistant City Manager Paul Cain said Monday.

Cain said the extended drought conditions have been unprecedented in Waco. Water restrictions had never been implemented before the lake expansion in 2003, and rarely if ever since the lake was built in 1964, city officials have said.

Cain said the city’s decision to raise the lake “bailed us out” during the extended drought over the last two years. Cain said back-to-back dry years in 2021 and 2022 forced the city to implement restrictions, but this year’s wet fall and especially the rainy past weekend allowed the city to remove the restrictions Monday. 

“We are super grateful for the water we have gotten,” Cain said. “It happened in the right time in the right place. We are fortunate the rain fell in the North Bosque watershed.”

That same rainfall, which measured up to 17 inches according to unofficial gauges, caused road and bridge closures in North Bosque River communities of Clifton and Valley Mills along with several home evacuations, and Bosque County officials are hoping to get a state disaster declaration for the flooding.

In a statement, City Manager Bradley Ford said the cooperation in Waco was paramount to be able to conserve water during the drought.

“Our sincere appreciation for the cooperation between city departments and our residential and business water customers as we worked through a regional drought over these last two years. Your cooperation was invaluable,” Ford said. 

The last time Lake Waco was full was Sept. 14, 2021, just three months after a flood that sent the level to 470 feet.

Amid deep drought, the lake steadily declined to 450.73 on Nov. 23, 2022, close to its post-2003 record low of 450.65 set on Dec. 29, 2006. Rains in May and June recharged the lake by a few feet, but it sank to a record low of 450.07 on Oct. 23.

Cain said the extended drought in Waco has caused the city to re-examine drought contingency plans in order to make sure drought planning is effective and will help preserve water during future droughts. Cain said he expects any new drought contingency plans to be presented to the city council after the new year. In the meantime, he said the recent rainfall has put the city in a good position water-wise going into next spring and summer.

Ford also said next year the city will present an “Integrated Water Resource Plan” to establish a foundation for water capacity for the next 100 years. The plan is meant to examine the most effective water utilization strategies for all water sources available to the city.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Monday began releasing floodwater into the Bosque River at the Lake Waco outlet works, said Taylor Christian, lead park ranger at the lake.

As of Monday, water continued to flow into the lake at about 3,000 cubic feet per second, Christian said. The water being released is enough to steady the lake level for now and allow it to return to the normal level of 462 feet within the next few days, he said.

Due to the minor flooding at the lake, campsites at Airport Park and Reynolds Creek Park have been closed, Christian said. Boat ramps that were previously closed due to the low lake level will be reopened in the next few days as crews clean up the large amount of debris that was swept into the lake from upstream, he said.

Once the lake is drained to its normal level, the debris should sit on the shoreline, where it will be cleared with backhoes and tractors, Christian said.

Heavy rain began Wednesday night, hitting the hardest in northern Bosque County, upstream from the lake. By Thursday morning, the North Bosque River in Iredell, Clifton, Meridian and Valley Mills, where it is normally only a trickle, had swelled well over its banks.

U.S. Geological Survey gauges in Clifton recorded a peak river height of 26.46 feet and peak flow rate of 34,900 cubic feet per second by 9 a.m. Thursday. Rain returned late Friday night, pushing the river there to a height of 32.68 feet and a surge of 52,600 cubic feet per second by 3:15 p.m. Saturday.

The river gauge at Valley Mills also saw two waves of heavy flow last week. On Thursday, the river reached 32.31 feet and with a flow of 28,700 cubic feet per second by 1 p.m., according to the USGS. The river crested again around 1:30 p.m. Saturday, with a flow of 46,900 cubic feet per second.

Bosque County Emergency Management Coordinator Kirk Turner said most of the Bosque County area received 4 to 7 inches of rain, but some areas received much more.

He said at his house near Iredell, upstream of Meridian and Clifton, he recorded 9.5 inches of rain between Wednesday and Thursday, followed by 8 inches between Friday and Saturday for a total of 17 inches of rain over the weekend.

Turner said four of the six crossings over the Bosque had to be closed in the county due to flooding, and there was much damage to bridges, low-water crossings and homes in the area. He said the Bosque County Commissioners Court would begin conducting damage assessments Monday.

The county is asking the Gov. Greg Abbott to declare a disaster for the flood damage. He said he believes the level of damage meets the threshold for Federal Emergency Management Agency assistance.

Turner said the flooding “cut the county in half” as many emergency service vehicles would get stuck on one side of the river due to the flooded bridges, making it tough to move them to where they needed to be. He said some swift water rescues had to be conducted and some homes and apartments had to be evacuated due to the rising water. Fortunately, there were no deaths or major injuries due to the flooding and only a handful of people showed up to an emergency shelter set up Friday, he said.

The flooding at Clifton was the most severe since a surge on Dec. 20, 1991, that displaced 98 residents, moved houses off their foundations and swept a motorist off Highway 6, causing her and her daughter to drown in a creek.

The past week’s storms also had an impact on Waco, with 3.2 inches recorded at Waco Regional Airport. The National Weather Service forecast showed skies clearing Monday night, with an overnight low of 35 and a high Tuesday of 56.

The river on that day was at 38.3 feet, the all-time record for flooding at Clifton. Saturday’s level of 32.68 feet was the highest recorded since then and the fifth-highest in history, according to the National Weather Service’s Advanced Hydrology Prediction Center.