Officials: Region’s Water Levels at Lowest of Past Year

EAST TEXAS — After one of the driest Augusts on record in East Texas, the Texas Water Development Board said Wednesday that lakes and reservoirs across the region were at the lowest levels of the past year. According to KETK and the Longview News-Journal, lake levels have fallen as rainfall deficits have continued to rise during the past year and a half.

Greg Morgan, Tyler’s Director of Utilities and Public Works, said Tyler had called for voluntary water restrictions. “We are not at the current levels to mandate a restriction,” he said. Tyler is able to draw water from multiple sources, which include Lake Tyler, Lake Tyler East, and Lake Palestine. The United States Geological Survey showed Lake Tyler’s water level was more than five feet below normal Wednesday. Rainfall for the past 18 months in Tyler was 11 inches below normal.

Longview’s official rainfall tally is now 18 inches below normal for that period. Looking at dropping lake levels Wednesday, a Lake O’ the Pines marina owner said conditions have been worsened by cities continuing to draw water unabated from the reservoir north of Longview. “It would be a tremendous help to us (if the cities didn’t draw as much),” said Sam Edwards, owner of Johnson Marina, adding the lake could use “about four or five feet of rain.”

While the extended dry conditions have prompted several Northeast Texas cities to declare water restrictions, the city of Longview continues to allow residents to use water at will. That’s because Longview, like Tyler, draws water from multiple sources, including Lake O’ the Pines, Lake Cherokee, and the Sabine River.