CANYON LAKE, Texas – Rain showers have brought a glimmer of hope for the future of Canyon Lake.
“Thank God for the heavy rain,” said Scott Degrassi, president of Canyon Lake Vacations.
Degrassi said he has lived at Canyon Lake for years and has stuck by the lake’s side through its highs and lows.
“I moved out here in 2012 when we were 12 feet low, and we did have a couple of 500-year rains that winter, and it filled up in one season,” said Degrassi.
The business owner is hoping for more rain in the forecast.
“Obviously, an inch or two is not going to reflect that much, but we do need some heavy rainfall for a period of time,” said Degrassi.
The prolonged drought caused water levels at the lake to reach a historic low. Degrassi said the lake has now dropped from 14 feet to 18 feet low.
“Since they were actually filling up the lake in the ‘60s, we have not been this low,” said Degrassi.
Leaving the shoreline can be tricky once a boat is on the water, as the drought has exposed new dangers for boaters.
“As the waters recede a little bit, every time I put in the boat, I do see a few extra tree stumps that I hadn’t seen before. I see a sandbar that I haven’t seen before,” Degrassi said. “That’s why I encourage anyone that comes out to charter a boat with a captain, someone that is very familiar with the lake and knows all the hotspots to go to and certainly knows where the low-lying areas are, like the sandbars and the tree stumps.”
But even with low water levels, Degrassi said the lake still boasts great depths.
“Once you get on the water, Canyon makes a very deep lake. We’re at 160 to 180 feet at its peak,” said Degrassi.
The drought has exposed remnants of a city submerged. The business owner has heard of graveyard tombstones being sighted at the lake, and now underwater caves are on full display.
“It’s very exciting that the silver lining in all of this is it has revealed some of our beautiful landmarks, such as the underwater caves and a few other things that you’ll see here,” Degrassi said. “Canyon Lake originally was a city, and it being a limestone bottom, on a very sunny day, you can see 15, 16 feet down. It’s one of the few scuba-diving certified lakes, so you can actually scuba dive to the town below and to the post office that used to be there, the original post office. So there are a lot of things to see.”
While it would take a significant amount of rain for a prolonged period to get the lake to an optimal level, Degrassi said tourism is alive and thriving.
“People are still renting Airbnbs. They’re still bringing out their family camper, staying at one of our RV resorts and either chartering a boat, taking out their kayaks, taking out their paddleboards, and now they’re able to see some of these beautiful landmarks that maybe you hadn’t seen before,” said Degrassi.