LCRA urges Lake Austin homeowners to take precautions as Mansfield Dam floodgates open

The Lower Colorado Authority has been opening up flood gates since Monday. As of Wednesday, lake Buchanan is full and has no room to store flood waters. Buchannan dam has 8 of 30 flood gates open. Starke dam also has 8 flood gates open. All the water is spilling over into the largest reservoir Lake Travis. LCRA General Manager Phil Wilson said Lake Travis is more than 100-percent full and well into its flood pool. Pouring about 1.2 million gallons of water a minute into Mansfield Dam.

"This is unprecedented even for us with the level of potential release coming out of Lake Travis because we are in that flood pool and we have to maintain the integrity of the dam," Wilson said. "Last week we captured more water in Lake Travis in the city of Austin typically uses in four years."

Wilson said managing the flood operation system is far from over. Tom Miller Dam has four flood gates open and the water will pour downstream affecting those who live in Bastrop and Columbus over the next few days. "This continues to be very serious situation we are moving large amounts of water to the lakes and people need to take every precaution to protect their safety and their property," Wilson said.

In the meantime, LCRA has closed lakes Buchanan, Inks, LBJ, Marble Falls and Travis until further notice.