The refill of Inks Lake and Lake LBJ will begin Monday, February 24. The lakes were lowered in early January by the Lower Colorado River Authority to assist property owners in continued recovery from the October 2018 floods and provide an opportunity for debris removal and other work. Property owners and construction crews should have all equipment and tools out of the lake bed by Sunday evening, February 23. The refill will occur at a rate of about one to two feet a day and will conclude by Friday, February 28.

Lake LBJ and Inks Lake will be refilled with a combination of water released from Lake Buchanan and water flowing into the Colorado River from tributaries downstream of Buchanan Dam. The water to refill Lake LBJ and Inks Lake will total about 28,000 acre feet (about 23,000 acre feet in Lake LBJ and 5,000 acre feet in Inks Lake) and could cause Lake Buchanan to fall a maximum of about 1.3 feet. The actual impact to Lake Buchanan could be reduced by rainfall or additional inflows to lakes Buchanan, Inks or LBJ.

The LCRA will also make a temporary change in water release operations downstream from Lake LBJ at Starcke Dam in Marble Falls for several weeks. Beginning this week, LCRA is making routine water releases every few days, as needed, through a partially open floodgate at Starcke Dam instead of through hydroelectric generation. LCRA will be conducting planned maintenance at Starcke Dam for several weeks, and hydroelectric generation, which normally is used to pass water through the dam, will be unavailable until the middle or late March. LCRA says the temporary change in operations at Starcke Dam will not affect or be affected by the upcoming refill of Inks Lake and Lake LBJ.

The routine releases are expected to occur several times a week, for several hours at a time, and will be scheduled during daylight hours, when possible. The change in operations will not affect the amount of water that will be released, and flow amounts will not exceed the typical amount released through hydroelectric generation. Routine releases to maintain lake levels and provide water for customer needs will be below levels that would cause flooding. However, as always, the LCRA advises the public to exercise caution and avoid being in the water near the dams. As with any releases through a floodgate, LCRA will sound a siren before the floodgate is partially opened. LCRA says that operational plans could change with