The 2011 drought destroyed the Austin water reserves. Check the lake level in 2010/2011 vs where we are today[0]. For those that don't know, in 2011 we had re

The 2011 drought destroyed the Austin water reserves. Check the lake level in 2010/2011 vs where we are today[0]. For those that don't know, in 2011 we had record temperatures and little water which led to a few wild fires. The Bastrop wildfire [1] burned 34,000 acres of land destroying 1650 homes. There was also a smaller fire (160 acres) in west Austin in the Steiner Ranch development destroying 25 homes. Temperature wise, Austin had 90 days with temperatures >= 100 degrees that summer. The area hasn't recouped its loss in water from that drought yet, and it will likely take a very long time for that to happen. Also, the Lower Colorado River Authority is the one that dictates where the water ends up, so they try to balance it for everyone that uses this supply (which is why Lake Travis is still so low). For fun, Lake Travis had a island that would appear in the middle sometimes depending on water levels, called "Sometimes Island". Since the drought, it's been jokingly renamed "Sometimes Peninsula"[2]. [0] http://travis.uslakes.info/Level.asp http://travis.uslakes.info/Level.asp [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastrop_County_Complex_fire http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastrop_County_Complex_fire [2] http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/no-boat-needed-to-get-to-sometimes-island/nRhBY/ http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/no-boat-needed-to-g...