low lake levels affect fishing
TRANSCRIPT
Low lake levels affect fishing in Texas
The low water levels this spring in many of the water reservoirs across North Texas have
an adverse effect on fish and anglers.
It is no new news that Texas gets pretty hot, this coupled with the increases in population
is causing some big problems for North Texas reservoirs. Many of the core reservoirs as well as
purely recreation bodies of water are far below what they should be at. With Lake Benbrook
being roughly 20 percent below normal, and Lake Granbury a close to 50 percent below normal
(1) can be the cause of problems for fish and other wildlife.
“With the water receding down you expose a certain amount of shoreline which may of
had aquatic plants growing in it. If the water is down for any extended period of time those
plants may die off so in a lake where the levels do tend to fluctuate you find less vegetation of
aquatic plants along the shoreline. There are some fish species that use that fringing shoreline
habitat for spawning or mating, and when that habitat moves the plants are killed and that could
affect their capabilities to reproduce,” said Dr. James Grover professor of Biology at UT
Arlington.
There are a number of other issues associated with lower than normal water levels in
North Texas lakes and reservoirs. Some things that influenced by the decreasing water levels are
water quality issues as well as the safety of eating the fish that are caught in the lake itself. With
extreme losses of water you can have a decrease in the overall water quality.
“We’re not getting any input of precipitation being in a drought and we have evaporation.
So you’re not going to get any fresh water input and you’ll get accumulation of various
substances that might lower water quality,” said Dr. Matt Walsh professor of Biology at UT
Arlington.
One thing that many experts agree on is the fact that large amounts of evaporation
without any inflow tend to cause water quality to drop.
“So you have persistent evaporation of water usually the reason at fault is because you
don’t have inflow coming in you have a constant withdraw of water for either drinking water or
other uses but also evaporation. What that does is it tends to concentrate whatever is in the water,
and that can lead to higher concentrations of things that are harmful and other,” Dr. Grover said.
These decreases in water quality can affect the consumption of the fish which make the
reservoir their home.
“Regionally water quality can be an issue there are a couple of lakes like Lake Worth that
are catch and release only. They have restrictions on eating the fish because of the water quality
these days,” said Jason Owen lake manager at Benbrook reservoir.
Drought however is nothing new to North Texas and for many the ability to simply get a
boat in the water to go fishing is the biggest problem of all. Driving around Benbrook and
Granbury lakes one can’t help but notice the number of boat ramps that simply end. When
driving across Lake Granbury you see many boats high in the air where they use to float on the
water with ease.
“There are very few spots that I can drop my boat in with the water being the way it is,
and when I try to fish from the bank I spend a lot of my time getting hung up on all the stumps
sticking up ,” said Austin McCoy a fisherman at Lake Benbrook.
The places at Lake Benbrook where you can actually launch a boat are few and far
between.
“At this point it’s more an issue of access than anything. With the lower water levels
we’ve only got one or two boat ramps that are open, the marinas shut down. So being able to
launch a boat and actually getting out there and hit the spots can be a pretty big impact,” Owen
said.
The closure of the boat docks and marinas is just the tip of the ice berg when it comes to
the affect low water levels can have on North Texas. Many businesses that specialize in fishing
equipment such as bait shops and crappie houses find themselves with fewer customers then they
are accustomed to. As well as surrounding businesses that provide day to day goods such as
gasoline, and food.
“You lose not only the visitation here to the lake but also to the surrounding community
as well. They don’t come buy gas at Benbrook or they don’t go and get groceries at the Wal-
Mart down the street there is kinda a ripple effect,” Owen said.
There are many things that come into consideration when talking about issues such as
water levels one of which is how to prevent them from falling. As far as solutions to the low lake
levels there are many that could help. Some of these solutions are immediate solutions, others a
bit more long term. The immediate solution to the problem would be we need some rain to fill
the reservoirs.
“I think the strait forward thing we need is more rain, but it’s not something that humans
are readily capable of making happen. Given the way climate is changing I’m not all that
optimistic that lake levels will increase in the near future. Apparently drought conditions will be
the new standard for reservoirs in North Texas,” Dr. Walsh said.
The issue of conservation is a subject in which some are divided. In order for the
population to keep growing like it has been in the area people will have to start using less water
or we’ll have to find better ways to use the water.
“The choses we make about power generation matter because some generating systems
use more water than others. As far as water conservation goes it’s something we haven’t thought
of much and haven’t implemented much until recently there has been more water restrictions.
We have to think seriously about that but we also have to think seriously about the kinds of
agriculture we practice, we have to think about the choices we make in power generation,” Dr.
Grover said.
Conservations is something that us North Texas will have to start thinking more seriously
about in than we are used to. When speaking to some local fisherman it is simply a matter of
being able to preserve what they have access to for future generations.
“I want to be able to take my kids, grandkids, and maybe even great grand kids out
fishing at the lake. I want to be able to take them camping and hiking just as my grandfather used
to do with me. If we don’t start doing a better job of keeping the lakes full there won’t be any
lake to go to anymore,” said Neal Tawater fisherman at Lake Benbrook.
There are many threats to fishing for future generations, including water level, water
quality, better conservation just to name a few. For some the number one threat to recreational
fishing is a simple matter of people wanting to fish. It is typically not one of those things you
wake up one day and have a desire to do out of the blue.
“Education is a big one getting our kids started out early getting them that experience and
that desire to go out there and actually go fishing. Having people that actually have a desire to go
fishing is critical in keeping the activity alive for future generations,” Owen said.
Texas has seen many years and it will see many more, but if we want to keep on doing
the things that are fore fathers and mothers did we’ll have to change the way we look at water.
We also have to consider the impacts on wildlife and the surrounding communities going
forward. I know one of my favorite past times as a child was fishing with my family and I look
forward to many more years of doing so.
News feature work cited
1) www.waterdatafortexas.org
2) Dr. James P. Grover – professor of biology/ associate dean in college of science at UT
Arlington
a. (817)-272-2405
3) Dr. Matt Walsh – assistant professor of biology at UT Arlington
a. (817)-272-1546
4) Jason Owen – lake manager for U.S. Army corps of engineers at Lake Benbrook
a. (817)-292-2400
5) Austin McCoy – fisherman at Lake Benbrook
a. (817)-980-3017
6) Neal Tawater – fisherman at Lake Benbrook
a. (817)-733-4661