'Right now we urge people to not swim': Lake Waco still too high to swim

Michael Champagne with the McLennan County Army Corps of Engineers spoke with 25 News ' Heather Healy on the high water levels at Lake Waco, preventing lake-goers from enjoying their summer on the water.

• It takes a two-week period for the organization to open the lake as water levels recede.
• If any more significant rain water fills up the lake, that two-week period restarts for the lake to re-open to residents.

BROADCAST SCRIPT

Due to the historic rain Central Texas has seen this spring, lake-goers at Waco Lake are advised to hold off on their summer swimming plans, and for good reason.

“We’ve got a lot of debris, signs, camp sights that are still under water, so there’s really not a safe designated place to swim at Waco Lake," said Michael Champagne with the Army Corps of Engineers.

"When we get back down to normal and we’re able to open our parks back up, that’s when we encourage people to come out and swim."

When are these levels going to get back to normal?

“We’re releasing water — releasing that flood water as we can safely do so, so right now, we’re letting out about 5,500 cubic feet per second out into the Brazos River," Champaghne said.

"There will be impacts — the Brazos River will be flowing at a higher rate than normal."

They also give this water a two-week period to dry out, especially when this asphalt has been under — if any more significant rains falls, that two week period resets, now asking if June will end up being a good month to dive in.

“When we come out of May, May is usually our wet season," said 25 News Meteorologist, Josh Johns.

"June can still be wet and it’s the start of hurricane season. We may not be completely done with the rain yet, we really don’t see that dry trend until July and August, and that’s also when we see the hottest weather."

The Texas heat and summer days on the lake go hand in hand — Champagne says it’ll take some patience, but it’ll all be worth it.

“Once the water goes down, we can turn the power back on, dry out, and then go and start making repairs,” he said.