Lake Disappearing in Texas

It’s not just farmers who are feeling the effects of the worst drought in decades. Across the U.S., lakes are drying up, and fishermen and tourist operators are praying for rain. In San Antonio, much of a once-flourishing lake has now been reduced to a mud flat.

Kyle Lyssy is scoping out a spot to drop his boat — drop it and hit water, that is — in a lake that’s literally hit rock bottom.

“I’ve lived around here my whole life and this is a new, personal record for me to see it like this,” he says.

The views are armageddon-like, with boat docks clutching at cliff sides, and stairs and ramps that lead nowhere. With some merchants reporting business down 70 percent, recreational sports have dried up a bit, too.

Medina Lake is at 13 percent capacity – the victim of more than two years of drought. Built a hundred years ago to help farmers irrigate their crops downstream, the lake serves its purpose well.

Now, lake managers are waiting for Mother Nature to step forward and refill it.

“As weather dictates, it will be up or it’ll be down. It can fill fast, and it can stay down if we have an extended drought, like we do,” says Ed Berger Bexar-Medina-Atascosa Water Control and Improvement.

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