The Drought and Medina Lake – Bandera County Medina Lake Park, Texas – Featuring a Torino Tahiti

On New Year’s Day my brother and his young son and I drove from Helotes, Texas to Medina Lake to see what we could see, having done no research on the Internet prior to going. It was a beautiful drive, passing through Texas Hill country and several small towns. Had we checked on the Internet, we would have found out that Medina Lake is currently suffering greatly from the drought that began in Texas in 2010. According to this article, which has some great pictures and information, as of November 30th the lake was 68.99 feet below “conservation pool,” which I take to be its standard level. The water has not been this low since the 1950s.

And even though Medina Lake was designed with such changes in water level in mind, it was sad to see the long, long boat ramps and pontoon docks sitting in the middle of the lake bed, long past being near the water’s edge. It must be trying times to be a lakeshore property owner there just now. I would love to see Medina Lake back at its full level, as it looks amazing in these photos of the section where we were at Bandera County Medina Lake Park, but the low water level did make for some intriguing photos. Click on any photo to see a slightly larger version.