Possum Kingdom Drought

Been out at Pk for the last few days. Didn't get in much fishing due to the high winds but got some interesting pics of the devastating drought. The water is very low and no longer clear. It's getting a "lake Lavon" green tint to it and there is green algae piling up around the edges. Really need some rain in the Brazos. All we got from the last storms was dust.

Here's what the cliffs Marina looks like now


Compare this with a 2012 pic


Here's the view to the right. The area that is dry was about 6 feet deep last year and I caught several limits of sandbass where this dry ground now sits.


The courtesy dock needs to be moved out again


The Brazos River Authority has two gates open so PK will continue to drain the lake. Apparently, they still need to fulfill orders for water for Dow and others. I doubt this water will stay in Granbury or Whitney.

Thanks for the pics PK. We were down this weekend and you are correct the lake is very low and can really be dangerous even for those that know the lake well. We don't get down your way much but usually stay from Sandy Beach north. The wind was pretty bad this weekend but we did manage to find an active school of fish (with a little help from my good fiend Randy Wood) and caught 75 - 100 fairly quickly. We are marking a ton of fish right now but the key is to find the schools that are actively feeding.

The good news about the low water level is that it sure limits the pleasure boaters. I know that sounds kinda selfish but I never once wanted to zoom a slab past someones ear this weekend.

Again a big shout out to Randy Wood, although we have never fished together he always helps me keep my head straight. Anyone needing a guide for Possum Kingdom give him a call, the lad can catch em!

Thats terrible... Hate to say it but it will probably take a tropical storm to stall out over the Brazos river valley to fix this problem. With the heat of summer coming it will get much worse without significant rainfall.

Pathetic! When I first visited this lake in 08 it was as clear as anything in the Ozarks. Notice the green color of the water...

I'm going to try a trip with Randy Wood once I can get a friend to split with me. I'm sure he know PK very well.

Depressing. Praying for lots and lots of rain.

Yep it's bad.

They aren't predicting any drought buster rainfall till this fall/winter. Hope we get some more before the summer sets in!

always like your reports
lets pray for rain & closed gates

I'm praying for rain. Closed gates may require fasting and prayer. BRA can always just decide to sell more water.

The good news is I live close to Arkansas. You do not see them destroying irreplaceable recreational resources like we are allowing unelected bureaucrats to do here. Fishing is still good at PK but I expect them to close the lake to swimming this year like they did Texoma a few years ago due to the blue green algae bloom.

LOL
ok

I was out on pk last summer and the amount of massive stick ups lying just under the surface was insane and extremely scary. even out in the middle of coves I ve skied and tubed in for years had sticks that would ruin your day in a hurry. cant imagine what its like now.
Are they still planning on doin the red bull cliff diving event off hells gate? haven't heard anything about it in awhile

The weatherman said it might reach 100 by Sunday. This year is not starting out good at all.

I've fished that lake more times than I can count over the years. At one time
the wife and I were seriously considering moving there. The low water levels
made us decide on Texoma instead and now its low.

At least were in a marina and don't have to worry about which boat ramps are open.

Kirby: I fish Texoma when I am back in the metroplex. I like that lake. The water by the dam is super clear now. Fun to fish a lake with clean clear water.

I own property at the Cliffs and it makes me sick to see level so low.

Apparently it does not bother the BRA. Saw their truck down at the cliffs Marina earlier this week. Guess they were making sure all the Styrofoam was off the slips. Probably also making mental note of all the people with touchless boat covers they can fine later this year now that they have ruled them illegal. Personally, I think this is a great opportunity for some enterprising young lawyer to get a class action suit using the Americans with Disabilities act. Lots of those people who purchased those touchless systems are elderly or handicapped.

Why would they make touch less boat cover illegal? What's wrong with these covers?

If we don't get serious rain in the next 4-6 weeks I can see the lakes such as pk that are - 50% capacaty drop below 40% or worse by fall. Selling off resources with no knowledge of when they will be replenished seems criminal to me.

X2

I was told they want to be able to find stolen boats without looking under a cover.

FMJ: You could get elected on that platform in Palo Pinto County. But consider this, there will be a lot of people looking for a tree and a rope if this drought continues. Why? Because they will have to decommission the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant if there is a risk of no water to cool it.

Is the drought the problem or is it the selling of excessive amounts of water from the lake by the controlling water authority?

the drought is the problem. the brazos feeds so many other bodys of water it has to be movin this far up north.

its good to hear that pk is at least sittin at 50% i figured it was worse than that. where i live the total amount of water in our two water shed lakes is a combined 25%. on the bright side wichita falls will be the first town in the u.s to use a reverse osmosis plant to treat and reuse our sewer water. yummy!!!! and we're cloud seeding now. it seems to be helping get an extra couple inches out of the very rare rain storms we ve been gettin.

Not my county or lake but I think people will wonder why the hydroplant was shut down if things get that bad.

Take Heart! Help is on the way! The Zebra Mussels will have that water sparkling clean and clear in short order.

BRA is bonkers

I agree. I vote we undo the BRA!

I wished it was that easy.....

I wish it was that easy too. The BRA is impervious and uninterested in public opinion. Went to a meeting they had supposedly to solicit public opinion and it was like " this is what we are doing and you serfs cannot do anything about it". Truth is, he was correct.We don't vote them in and cannot vote them out. For some reason, the local politicians won't help.

im sure the politicians wont do anything because im bettin the bra brings in a lot of income with all those tickets they write everybody.

Drought - better not post a pic of your truck or boat... They might monitor this site.

BRA are the tyrants of the lake. Good for me they focus on boating while drunk instead of just general harassment of boaters.

haha no joke. might see be a wanted poster with my face on it next time Im at rockin S. but I cant agree with you more. they r tryants. think about it. whens the last time you heard a good thing about the bra? I cant recall one.

Believe it or not I have been catching some really nice slab black crappie on PK the last couple weeks. Fishing timber, not docks. The numbers are not great but the size has been. I've never had much luck catching crappie on PK so I'm getting stoked. The big black crappie have to be one of the most pretty fresh water fish, aside from trout that is. :-)

BRA wanted to check my friend out, by Hells Gate
when they got in his boat a wake hit & officer fell down & knocked boat into reverse
my friend was not being compliant
officer flew out of the boat
they beat my friend to a pulp & let him go
that was in 2000

The BRA is a JOKE!!!!They take the "controlling agency" thing a little far!! The Sheriff in Palo Pinto county is a joke as well,just ask the great folks over at Possum Hollow!!

The BRA is going to sell an additional 550 acre-ft of water than already planned for this summer

what did he do?
don't make him angry he will definitely shoot 1st & ask questions later

I have worked summer internships with the army corp of engineers and am currently in the process of getting my masters in water quality and management. Some of these comments on here are far from accurate. People want to throw around terms such as "our water" when the majority of surface water sheds belong to the state of Texas. The purpose of man-made lakes in the first place is for flood/drought control. Sorry guys, but recreational use is on the bottom of the totem pole. I worked on a marina for years and saw both aspects of it and yes, politics do play a role in the process as a whole but lets not forget that everyone is hurting. If you want to go after someone about over excessive water usage go after the major corporations fracking.

Politics have a lot to do with this situation

http://www.empowertexans.com/economy/the-plot-to-drain-possum-kingdom-and-lake-granbury/

When feeding your family depends on the recreational use of a lake,and you pay the "controlling agency"and the state a huge percentage of income(not profit just money thats spent)i'm pretty sure you would have a different opinion Browning3248!!!!!!!!!!!!

True, however he is correct. We have been enjoying the perks of something that was not built specifically for recreation.

guess that's why they 'built' brush piles...

Frack the BRA and everyone against fracking....

The COE puts BP's in their lakes as well, the number 1 priority for them is still flood control.

So you think you are the only one paying taxes to these "controlling agencies" and the only one that relies on the water for income to feed their families? What about all these farmers down south? They are hurting much worse than the northern part of the state I assure you. They pay their share of taxes and rights to the water, to which they were cut on usage some odd years ago, just like you. But hey, screw them right? When certain crops go through the roof it will be people like you complaining about the rising prices. You cant please everyone, greed is an ugly trait my friend.

Since the rice farmers only pay a fraction of what residential customers do, I've got no pity for them right now. Start paying full price and then they can complain. They have the option to plant different crops that don't require so much water. With the lakes as low as they are, there is no justification to send additional water downstream when the drinking supply is threatened.

Browning I can assure you that the south texas farmers r not in a worse way than the farms up here in north texas. maybe the rice farmers but that is because they planted a crop that needs more water than this state can provide. if u don't believe me take a look at the photos of lake arrowhead in the photos and video section of this forum. that is the water shed for over 4 counties and its sittin at 25%. but u r correct in a way. possum bein a brazos river lake will always have to be letting some water out. but how much longer can it go without rain is the question.

We refer to it as OUR WATER, because it belongs to the state of Texas. The state of Texas belongs to us. So I guess we should refer to it as Our water.

Flying to Albuquerque this afternoon, we flew over PK. I appears as if the Brazos feeding the lake was dry.

It is dry. When we get rain it starts a little west of FT Worth but the Brazos river vally goes out to Lubbock and they haven't had much rain in years.