Choke Canyon Observation.

The Frio River in Derby has been flowing at 3000 cfs for more than 3 days. Tilden is not that far from Derby but has not shown more than 700 cfs since the storms started. The lake has caught less than a foot. Where in the hell does this water go. Does anyone who lives in that area have any idea of what could cause all that water to never make it to the lake?

It goes out the other end of the lake

The water is like this. My thinking is that it's just so dry down there and there's so much brush growing around the river that it's just sucked up. The lakes come up 3/4 of a foot, so some is making it in there and the river gauge in Tilden just started to rise; but it's a big wide open lake. 1' of water can spread out a long way.

I was born and raised in Dilley, TX. Grew up fishing Choke Canyon and the Frio River. There is something wrong. The San Miguel and Frio have both had enough water coming down them SEVERAL times this Spring for days at a time yet the lake barely gains anything. There has not been enough water to raise it 10-20'.....But there has darn sure been enough to raise it A LOT more than it has. I have been there several times this Spring bowfishing gar up from 99. Trust me, there has been quite a bit of water hitting the intersection of the San Miguel creek and Frio river. I do not have any idea where the water is going nor have I gone and looked at what is being released from the dam, but the lake should have risen more than it has.

If you want to know where the water goes, read this link.


http://www.cctexas.com/government/water/...ther-faqs/index


This one is even better, it shows exactly how much water has come out.


http://www.nueces-ra.org/CP/CITY/passthru/index.php

If you click on Choke Canyon on that graph only shows 33 cubic feet per second running out. Doesn't add up. Water is not reaching the lake and that area is very saturated from local rains. No way all that water is soaking in on the riverbed.

So what's the conspiracy theory then? It's holding at a fairly constant level, if it was a fracing issue then it would be dropping like a rock. Maybe there's a big tanker truck just sucking all the water out, right? Oh wait, drilling has slowed down.


Have you ever driven up the entire river/lake? The terrain is flat, 1' of water spreads out a very long way. Also did you see the evaporation chart on the graph, impressive...

How many dams are along the river that have the water flow blocked?

I have no conspiracy theory brother. I have heard them all. From dams to fracing to holes drilled between Concan and Dilley to replinish aquifers. I have no clue what is going on. All I was doing was stating facts. I have in fact travelled almost every bit of the river from Concan to Choke. In flat bottom boats for the most part. I have also covered Choke Canyon and the area from the lake to well above 99 in bass boats and airboats for 30 years. I know the lake and its precursors pretty well. Again, I have no theory or explanation. I just know that years ago I saw way less rain in the same areas and watersheds that put A LOT more water in the lake. I simply wish the lake would catch some water as I am an avid bass fisherman and miss the days of catching good fish at Choke. I was by no means stirring anyone's pot.

Are there in fact dams on the Frio that someone has actually put their eyes on? I am not sure if you were being sarcastic. That might explain some of it if there are.

I can't say that I have seen one in person; but I did see one on a facebook video last time that area had a flood (sometime last year.) The poster video'd the wall of water coming down and it went swirling round and round his tank until it finally came out of his spillway. He said it was the Frio anyways.

I just tried to follow the Frio up from Choke on google earth and I didn't see any dams; but there sure are a lot of oil water holding tanks built right next to the river.



Off topic here for a second. Why in the world do ranchers (whomever) do this?

I'm not pushing some oil conspiracy, I'm just trying to figure out how you lose 2300 cfs of water in a 60 mile stretch. That same water traveled well over 100 miles and maintained it's flow which is documented by gauges anyone can monitor but in that final stretch it vanishes. And as far as 1 foot of water at this level it covered about 500 acres. That's not that much water for 3 days of near torrential rain on the watershed.

I hunted in that bottom before the lake was built, started fishing choke the second or third week it was open. I lived in Corpus for 13 years once time, three another. They let a lot of water out not doubt the city is clueless mgt, not just clueless to water mgt but pretty much everything. Sure seems like the lake should have come up more than it has.

I can't imagine it being legal to dam up a river.

Low water dams are common on west Texas rivers

The rumor I hear is that the water is flowing into the ground filling the holes left by fracking, as well as filling all the retention ponds that would normally drain into the river.

You fracking conspiracy theorists need to understand that a frac takes place a few miles below the surface, and the water table close to surface is cased off with steel and cement. There's no way that a frac can swallow up water from the surface.

This is a groundwater issue. The water table is low, so the ground is sucking it up. Once the water table is full, the river will flow faster.

Yep, that's a major aquifer recharge zone and the water is literally falling through the bottom of the river into the ground.

The water made it to the flood gauge at Derby which is down near Dilley. It just fell off quickly past there. I would think the major aquifer recharge areas are in the rocky areas well above derby.