Canyon Lake water levels rise considerably after historic drought, reopening boat ramps

COMAL COUNTY, Texas – The water levels at Canyon Lake were at their lowest in 60 years in April thanks to a drought.

Since the recent flooding, the water level has risen over a dozen feet, allowing closed boat ramps to finally reopen.

With the water rising, boaters are lining up.

“Lake’s been very low until it flooded here,” said Dean Smith, who lives in Comal County. “We haven’t been able to get on it for several years.”

Even though he enjoyed fishing on his boat at a local lake instead of driving to Lake LBJ in Austin, Smith said it’s bittersweet.

“I’m glad to see the lake come up and, you know, the tragedy that took to get it here is, you know, still there,” Smith said. “You see a lot of the debris still in parts of the lake. And, you know, it’s just another reminder of what happened.”

Three months ago, Canyon Lake was only 46% full. On Friday, it’s 67% full, which represents a near 14-foot rise.

The recent rain has filled up Canyon Lake, allowing boat ramps that have been closed for more than a year due to the drought to reopen.

Boat ramps 1, 14, 18 and 19 are all open. The owner of Jaded Boats, a company that rents boats, said things are on the up and up.

“Canyon Lake drying up, you know, but now with all this, I mean, this is immaculate,” Kyle Zera said. “This is incredible.”

Luke Wilburn, another Comal County resident, said the rising lake levels are excellent for the Canyon Lake community.

“I’m sure it’s good. Yeah, we’ve been struggling, so hopefully we’re back going,” Wilburn said.

Zera said his boat rental company has finally picked up this week.

“A lot of calls have been like, ‘Is the lake open? Are the boat ramps open?’' Zera said. ”So, with the recent water activity, we can actually start sending things out. (We) feel comfortable sending people out."

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• Nearly every major river basin in South Central Texas has experienced flooding in July 2025