WACO, Texas — The US Army Corps of Engineers at Lake Waco has been closely monitoring water levels amid recent rainfall, and on Thursday, Oct. 26, those levels rose around three feet.
The Corps said surrounding areas saw anywhere from five to seven inches of rain.
"There's a big section of water coming in from north Bosque right now between Clifton and Valley Mills, and that will be hitting Lake Waco tonight," said Taylor Christian, a Park Ranger with the US Army Corps of Engineers.
As of the morning of Oct. 26, Christian said the lake sits about "12 feet low", adding that it will take much more rain to bring the lake to full pool.
Full pool for Lake Waco is around 462 feet.
"The rains wash a tremendous amount of flood debris, wood, logs that accumulate in the catchment of the Bosque River and Hog Creek," Christian said. "Those tributaries all push down to Lake Waco."
Christian heeded caution to all boaters and jet skiers because of a "tremendous amount of logs, trees and floatations" that will pop up in the Lake Waco waters due to the rain.
"There's a little bit of current with these rains, it's slow and steady, not like riptides or anything," Christian said.
For fishermen like Jose Diaz, the rain brings promising prospects for a catch.
"The fish get closer to the banks and explore more when it rains and the water levels go up," Diaz said. "When it rises, the water's rushing, it picks up all kinds of stuff off the bottom, fish get into a frenzy and they're ready to feed."
Christian said the rain helps overall lake health and the entire ecosystem it supports.
"It's a tremendous amount of fresh water coming into the lake," Christian said. "Hopefully we get more slow and steady farmers rains to avoid any flooding or things like that for safety reasons."
Christian said the risk of runoff contaminants making their way into the lake is minimal, adding the size of the lake mitigates any concerns for water quality being impacted.
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