Not sure how many of you guys know but Lake Conroe is in danger of being significantly drained. There has been significant political pressure as a result of Harvey for the City / State to take action. There have been several plans put forth but the current plan is for the SJRA to lower Lake Conroe by 2 feet starting Aug 1. They will then allow it to begin refilling on OCT 1. Given our typical winter rainfall it will likely be close to christmas before the water level's return. Most of the boat docks on the lake are in approx 4 ft of water. Given that Conroe has always been near constant level, dredging and permitting of docks limit most to 4ft of water. A study was just completed that said the current plan will reduce property values by approx 2 billion dollars due to loss of water access. It will certanly change the fishing on the lake at a minimum so if you had Conroe on your bucket list you better get out to fish it.


Matt

That certainly sucks but if it helps keep Houston from getting flooded as badly then I'd encourage it.

Meh it'll make the offshore stuff even better. That's where most of bags come from anyways. If you can afford to live on the water on Conroe I bet you can afford to extend your dock.

....Can't wait....
Looking to buy a piece of property there.
I just hope the property values plummet
....one thing is for sure, they lake level and the values will come back up
no way they will let the lake be so low that the home owners would be affected long term...... too much pressure.
short term,,,,yes bit not long term.

A measly 2ft, you'd chit if you lived in one 40ft low like I do.

If Conroe is on your bucket list of lakes then we may need to visit about what fishing is to you.

Also, the only boats that have issues getting out of the docks in 2ft of water are the ones I prefer to keep of the water anyways.

If it's a flood control lake then...yeah it does make sense.

It's not the first lake they've done that to in Texas.

So it will be low for a couple of months. That will make the spring bite great if you get some shoreline stuff to growing.

I need to extend mine by about 3/4 of a mile to get to deeper water

The plan is to lower it 1 ft on April 1st. Then allow it to return to normal pool beginning June first. The on August 1st draw it back down 2ft by August 15. Back to normal pool beginning Oct 1st. Coming back up of course is dependent on how much rain occurs.

So it could be at normal pool from early Oct to Apr 1 then again from June to August 1. That's close to 8 months of the year.

Fishing will get better with the lowering. For fishing bring it on. Even the docks with water could get better as it's easier to get a bait under them. Shore grass should grow back which helps the spawn and fishing when the lake is at full pool. Offshore fishing gets better too. The shad spawn was ridiculous when the lake was down. However down 1 ft in April during the shad spawn isn't too likely to make that much of a difference.

You might get a summer where starting a foot low and then no rain gets it lower.

FYI, the consensus among floodplain engineers is that lowering Conroe 2 feet will have absolutely zero effect on flooding in Houston. This is simply the Lake Conroe authorities caving in to political pressure from uninformed politicians. Good luck.

I helped the good folks of Houston and Beaumont muck out their homes last year for a few weeks. Many of those homes survived the hurricane just fine but did not survive the flood that happen as a result of having to open spillways to keep dams from bursting. If they need to draw down some lakes in an effort to protect peoples lives and homes, I am OK with that. The devastation was massive and I felt so bad for people that are just like you and I, as we through their hard earned possessions on the street. Anyway, I am sorry for folks who live on Conroe that might have their property values go down some but if it helps the folks down stream it is probably worth it.

Ive always liked fishing Conroe when its a few feet low. It Sounds like its for a good cause, and if it rises by dec then it shouldn't hurt the spawn.

You get a hurricane over Conroe or even just a tropical depression with excessive rainfall, 2ft won't mean anything...

SJRA is basically in a lose/lose situation. A few years ago the lowered the lake and the hurricane basically missed the area. Lake got really low and affected many homeowners. Last year they didn�t lower it and got a ton of water therefore upsetting people downstream in Kingwood and other areas. I work with a lot of people that got flooded. It�s sucks no doubt about it but look where Kingwood is. Spring Creek, San Jacinto, flowing right in to the area. Lots of blame to go around but the developers could care less. Maybe homeowners should be a little responsible also. Flood insurance is cheap, really cheap. When you make several hundred thousand a year and you�re too cheap to buy flood insurance isn�t right either. I would neve even think of buying a home in Kingwood. I moved from Tennessee and all you have to do is look at the area and it�s a disaster. I looked around and immediately eliminated the Kingwood area.