Medina Lake is continuing to break records as the reservoir creeps closer to empty.
The Hill Country reservoir sat at 2.5% full on Friday, with its surface elevation at 971.63 feet above sea level — more than 90 feet low. The reservoir is considered full at 1,064.2 feet; the last time it was full was July 7, 2019, according to data from the Texas Water Development Board.
The board’s records, which date to 1997, show the previous record low was 972.42 feet, set on May 25, 2014. Medina dipped below that for the first time on May 7, and has continued shrinking since then.
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When the reservoir is full, it can hold almost 255,000 acre-feet of water; 1 acre-foot is enough to cover 1 acre in 1 foot of water. Currently, it’s holding 6,362 acre feet, according to the water board data.
The lake has dropped more than 2 feet in the past three months, and almost 10 feet since this time last year.
The U.S. Drought Monitor shows the area around the reservoir is locked in “extreme drought,” one of only three patches of the state in that condition.
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The L-shaped lake is in Medina and Bandera counties. Two-thirds of Bandera County and more than one-third of Medina County are currently in extreme drought, the monitor’s second-highest classification, and 100% of both counties are in at least moderate drought or worse.
