Medina Lake is drying up. Is there a way to save the water?

It’s not hard to see where Medina Lake’s water levels should be.

“You can just look at the tree line and see the watermark,” Mike Crandall, the owner of Wallys Watersports, said. “It’s getting hard for me to imagine water.”

As of Tuesday, the man-made reservoir was only 3.6% full. Earlier this summer, the lake was even lower.

“Unless we get some significant rains, it’s going to recede back down,” David Mauk said.

Mauk is the general manager of the Bandera County River Authority and Groundwater District. He said Medina Lake is used for recreation but mainly for irrigation. There’s back in forth in this community about usage, and conservation is an ongoing conversation.

“Eventually, it’ll rain again,” Mauk said. But there is still the ongoing drought. “Until that is broken, the lake is going to suffer. The river is going to suffer. The whole system, the ecology of the area is going to suffer.”

Crandall said he’s still making the most of what’s left of the lake. Wallys is still taking people out on boats and kayaks.

“It’s 28 feet deep out there,” Crandall said, referencing the water near the dam.

To see our past coverage, click here.

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