Boat ramps, recreation areas closed due to flooding at North Texas lakes
GRAPEVINE, Texas - The storms are gone, the sun is out, and the heat is on.
Saturday was starting to feel and look like summer so, naturally, people wanted to get out on the lake, but they were met with closed signs and forced to turn around.
With all the rain we've gotten, some areas are still flooded, and the Army Corps of Engineers believe it could take weeks for lake levels to get back to normal.
Jose Arteaga went to Grapevine Lake on Saturday for an annual birthday celebration with his church and family.
"It’s very nice, very nice weather, especially after all the rain – it's really nice!" said Arteaga.
But the group did not go to their usual spot.
"Usually, he does this every year, and we usually meet over by the tennis courts on that side, but it was closed," said Arteaga.
He's not the only one forced to turn around trying to get into a park area at Grapevine Lake.
After all the rain in North Texas, Grapevine Lake is about 19 feet higher than normal.
Park areas and boat ramps are closed because of flooding.
"It really depends on the lake and without any additional rain in the watershed, it’ll be a good month before we actually get all the floodwaters out of our eight flood risk management reservoirs here up the Trinity River," said Clay Church of the Fort Worth District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Church says before floodwaters can be released downstream, they need to make sure those areas have capacity.
"Certainly over the last couple of weeks, Houston and Liberty on down south on the Trinity River had some fairly massive flooding, so that’s one of the reasons that we haven’t been discharging waters from our flood risk management reservoirs," he said.
A family from Alabama emailed FOX 4 that they had tried to park their RV at Lavon Lake and were told the park is closed, and they needed to leave.
Church says in that area the electrical outlets RVs use are underwater and there's no electricity at the park.
Before recreation areas can open back up, the Army Corps of Engineers has to inspect them and allow them to properly dry out.
"It’ll be a good couple weeks to three weeks, that’s after the floodwaters have receded that we’ll be able to start that clock. Hopefully have the majority of our recreation areas open for Labor Day weekend, but many of them will not be able to be open before the Fourth of July," said Church.
If you are able to find a safe way to get on the water, Church urges people to be aware of floating debris and structures like picnic tables or grills close to the water's surface.
"We do like people to come out and recreate at our lakes, we just ask check before coming out in this flooding event and flooding time," he said.
If you have a future reservation at a nearby lake, you're encouraged to check your reservation status to make sure the area is open.