Lake Pointe Canyon Lake Cleanup

Historic Drought Making Locals Anxious

As of November 13, 2024, the mean water level at Canyon Lake has dropped to 882.19 or 52.2% full. This is the lowest water level measured since the dam was completed in 1964 and started filling with Guadalupe River water. Boat Ramp #18, the last remaining public access point at Canyon Lake, will shut down on Friday, Nov. 1, due to diminishing water levels and safety risks. The lake’s water levels have been steadily declining because of the ongoing drought. On Oct. 18, the water level reached 883 feet, triggering the ramp’s low-water closure threshold.

If you live around the area, you’ve surely heard the locals voice their concern for the ever-dropping water levels. Ask any restaurant, hotel, park manager, property or business owner and you’ll hear that familiar phrase trailing off as you part ways, “… if we could only get some rain.”

With every passing week, the shoreline recedes farther and farther away from the full-pool line and exposes old trash and debris from decades past. Many boat ramps have become unusable and floating docks that have not been moved are now on dry land.

Taking Advantage of The Low Water

This isn’t the first drought that this area has seen and it won’t be the last. Instead of getting overwhelmed with anxiety about the sharp drop off in lake commerce, boaters and other lake goers, the Canyon Lake community is taking the opportunity to improve the lake, in anticipation of better days ahead.

There are stories of folks all around the shoreline volunteering to clean up all of the exposed trash and debris, some of which have become navigation hazards or environmental hazards. Comal County is lengthening four of the boat ramps on Canyon Lake, including ramps 1,2,7 and 8. These projects will expand the length of the boat ramps ranging from 25-100 feet. While these current projects won’t allow boaters to access the reservoir during severe droughts, the projects will increase the usability at higher water levels. Also, W.O.R.D. (Water-Oriented Recreation District of Comal County) is working on improvements for parks around the lake, while they have the opportunity.

Lake Pointe’s Haul

Lake Pointe RV and Condo Resort has been taking advantage of these historically low lake levels and have been cleaning up the shore line every day. So far, we’ve managed to remove:

• 462 Bags of Trash
• Hundreds of old bottles, mostly from the 1960s and 1970s but we’ve found several bottles dating to the early 1920s just up the hill from the submerged Sorrel Creek School.
• 128 Boat Anchors of every conceivable style
• 4 – 12V Lead-Acid Batteries – two of them were used as line weights… don’t do this.
• 1 Boat Motor
• 2 – 1980s-Era Jamboxes
• 1 Bowling Ball
• 4 Wallets
• 1 Pair of Binoculars
• A gazillion and a half pairs of Sunglasses
• Countless Fishing Rods
• 2 Full Tackleboxes
• Many Bikini Tops and Swim Trunks. These are surprisingly common and obviously detached from some unfortunate swimmers… must be some hilarious stories out there.
• 1 Prosthetic Arm — Yes, you read that right.
• 5 Smoke Grenade — Guessing these were from military exercises?

Want to Help?

If you’re interested in helping cleanup the shoreline, stop by the office and ask one of our friendly office staff for a yellow mesh bag, generously provided by our friends at W.O.R.D. Also, keep an eye on our calendar for Lake Pointe cleanup days.

In the meantime, enjoy our trash-cleanup gallery.

Trash Cleanup Gallery