Dark, monstrous thunderheads, dragging gray tails of rain, are sweeping in from the north, shutting out any ray of sunshine that might try to poke a hole in the canopy. We are on the Intracoastal Waterway motoring toward Sundown Bay, figuring there might be a redfish tail showing somewhere. A changeable wind coming from almost all points on the compass, keeps us guessing about where to fish.

Our determination to fish, though, is undercut by a deep, rumbling thunder in the distance. We hadn’t even put a fly in the water, but it was time to go.

“Live to fish another day” would be the motto here. There’s no redfish or trout worth dying for, I always say. If the weather gets weird, get yourself to the ramp.

Other days and other times, before I had kids and grandkids, I’ve teased Mother Nature by finding a place on land or on an island to wait out a storm. Sometimes it got scary, too. But I was lucky and never got hit by lightning or swamped in a storm.

As we move into prime boating season, weather is not the only safety issue out there on the water. Other boats and other boat operators are an issue. Lots of boats of all sizes on the same body of water, using the same access ramps. You have anglers and skiiers and swimmers. You have fast boats and slow boats. Some operators are paying attention; some are not.

Consider this: If you wear a personal flotation device (PFD or what we used to call a life jacket), and you don’t drink alcoholic beverages, you are almost 100 percent guaranteed to get home safely.

“The life jacket is number one,” says Jeff Parrish, who is assistant chief for marine enforcement for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Last year, there were 32 fatalities on the water in Texas and 27 of those victims were not wearing any kind of flotation device. Alcohol factored into six of the fatalities. Overall, there were 229 boating accidents, resulting in 121 injuries.

If those numbers sound scary, they are. You can make a quick case for wearing a PFD when the boat is running and when it’s not. Youngsters 12 and under are required to wear the devices when the boat is under power or drifting. Older teens and adults are not required to wear them, but it’s still a good idea. You are required to have one on the boat for every person on the boat.

I wear mine when the weather is rough or when it’s really cold, but I admit I don’t always wear one when I’m just standing in the boat.

Time was when Texas had pretty loose laws about boating and drinking and proper boat operation. Now there is a boating safety law that requires a boating education class for anyone operating a boat who was born on or after Sept. 1, 1993, Parrish says.

Texas game wardens, who conduct extra lake patrols during spring and summer months, routinely check for boaters who appear to be intoxicated. The limits are the same as they are for driving a car. They reported making 259 BWI arrests during 2011 and they issued 305 citations for failure to have the proper flotation devices on board.

Parrish suggests a designated driver for any boating outing. He also suggests that you tell someone where you are going on the water and when you plan to return. And I suggest watching what the weather and other boaters are doing.

I think it’s also helpful to know where you are. Like our roadways, some lakes have higher accident rates than others.

“We have those areas of the state where we have the most accidents,” Parrish says. “I think that it’s the kind of activity that’s taking place at those sites.”

Lake Austin, for example, is long, narrow and crowded on certain days. During the last five years, 21 people have been injured in Lake Austin accidents and one has died, Parrish says.

During the same five year stretch, Canyon Lake had six fatalities and 17 injuries. Lake LBJ had three fatalities and 37 injuries.

And Lake Travis? Lake Travis had three fatalities and 66 injuries from boating accidents.

Boaters beware.

It may not be summer, but lake season is in full swing. For most that means dodging the crowds on the water. At Lake Austin, it means dodging hydrilla. “On Lake Austin hydrilla is definitely the worst invasive plant that we’ve got,” said City of Austin environmentalist Mary Gilroy.  Fast growing, lake choking, the underwater Asian plant is one of the toughest to control. Gilroy should know — the environmentalist took on hydrilla when it first hit Lake Austin in the mid 90s.  “It creates a real concern from a public safety standpoint from trying to swim through what kind of amounts to a thickness of a bale of hay in the water,” explained Gilroy.

The root cause for the hydrilla boom is seen on the growing shorelines of Lake Travis where lower levels mean warmer water. It was only a matter of time before that warm water flowed into Lake Austin, giving hydrilla the prime conditions it needed to thrive.  In the past two years, the plant’s lake growth skyrocketed from 66 to more than 550 acres. So far, solutions to halt hydrilla are few. The only real success comes from a type of foreign fish, grass carp, who feed on the plant.  “I doubt very seriously that Lake Austin will ever be completely free of hydrilla,” sighed Gilroy. “It’s just one of those plants you have to keep your eye on. You have to keep your guard up.”

Texas Parks and Wildlife recently approved 15,000 grass carp for release into Lake Austin. The City hopes they can be put in the lake by July.

Chris Warren is going about his daily routine like every other morning, making sure his boat riders are ready to go.

But as manager of VIP boat rentals in Volente, he says people aren’t asking so much about lake levels but rather whether it will rain or shine.

“Our sales are up probably 25 percent as this time last year,” Warren said. “So it actually hasn’t affected our revenue on business too much.”

But down by mile marker 16.5, the story is a little different. Businesses are constantly monitoring the lake levels. Lower lake levels means less boats can access the lake and that affects sales and profits.

Eric Von Witbeck is getting ready for business even if it’s a little damp. As general manager at the Gnarly Gar in Point Venture, he said, he and the owners prepare are always ready to deal with dry seasons.

“We live and die by the lake levels here,” he said. “When it’s very low we’re lucky enough we still we still have boat access where some of our competitors do not. But that doesn’t so do much good when the ramps aren’t open because the lake is so low.”

He said other problems can surface without enough rain. The lower the lake, the more his restaurant is pushed out into the water, stretching utility lines to the max.

“The lake levels affect more than just business traffic,” Witbeck said. “It also affects plumbing, electricity and other things like that that work with the restaurant.”

Lower Colorado River Authority officials said Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan are an average of 48 percent full. That’s about 17 feet below average, but almost 34 feet below average for Lake Travis. That’s very low but not nearly as low as it was last year, which was 12 feet lower than now.

Central Texas lakes are in better shape than they were a year ago, and forecasts predict a cooler, wetter summer than last year, according to Lower Colorado River Authority officials.

The LCRA, which regulates the water supply of Lakes Travis, Buchanan and other reservoirs in the lower Colorado River basin, known as the Highland Lakes, hosted a Meteorologists Day on Wednesday at the agency’s Lake Austin Boulevard facility. LCRA officials presented their predictions regarding weather and lake levels this summer.

David Walker, supervisor of LCRA river management, said the wet weather during the past three months broke a two-year streak of below average inflows to the lakes, but the river authority still anticipates that mandatory water restrictions will go into effect this summer.

“There is tremendous variability in the amount of water that comes into our system,” Walker said. “Our water supply is totally dependent on the weather.”

LCRA general manager Becky Motal said spring rains did not benefit the water level of the Highland Lakes because they fell downstream of Lakes Travis and Buchanan. If the authority can devise ways to capture and store some of that surplus water, less water would be needed from the Highland Lakes and their water levels could rise, she said.

“This year alone we have had 600,000 cubic feet of excess water downstream of the Highland Lakes,” she said. “We’re looking at off-channel reservoirs to capture that water. We want to supplement agriculture with that water so we do not have to take it out of the Highland Lakes.”

Those off-channel reservoirs might be many small ponds or gravel pits that would hold water pumped from the Colorado River, Motal said.

Bob Rose, LCRA chief meteorologist, said he forecasts a summer with more rain and less heat than last year’s. Climate conditions including soil moisture and ocean temperatures differ from what they were a year ago, he said.

“The gulf is much warmer than it was last year,” Rose said. “In the Atlantic, we’re seeing more cooling.”

Taking those conditions into account, Rose said Texas will probably not fall victim to the pattern of high pressure that made Texas extremely dry and hot last summer.

“The large area of high pressure that sat on us last year is going to sit on Colorado or Kansas,” Rose said. “Without the high sitting right on top of us, we’re not going to have a repeat of last summer.”

More water was lost from the Highland Lakes to evaporation in 2011 than was used by every city under the Lower Colorado River Authority’s jurisdiction.  The loss is the reason some lawmakers are pushing for a new approach to how the state’s regional water systems store the resource.  In 2004, the San Antonio Water System completed what’s called an aquifer storage and recovery system. The system injects and stores excess Edwards Aquifer water into the sand-based Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer during periods of rain or low water use.

“As you look out on the project it’s essentially grass and cows and it’s used for agriculture, while at the same time, right under their feet, is this great aquifer storage and water source,” San Antonio Water System Chief of Staff Donovan Burton said. “You have no evaporation whatsoever. It’s stored underground.” State Rep. Lyle Larson, who sits on the House Natural Resources Committee, has been a vocal proponent of why investing in storage systems like the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer should be the number one issue lawmakers tackle next session. He believes surface water projects will simply dry up during droughts, much like Lake Travis did last year.  ”This is technology that’s being used worldwide and we need to change our approach in Texas because I think the critical aspect is, if we’re not going to get significant rain 10 of the next 15 years, we better have a lot of water stored underground and we can access it when we need it,” Rep. Larson said.

Clara Tuma with the Lower Colorado River Authority says San Antonio’s model is one idea they’re looking at in an attempt to save unclaimed water that flows to the coast. ”We are actively looking for 100,000 acre feet of water supply within the next five years,” Tuma said. “Right now, there’s no way to stop the water once it leaves the Highland Lakes. If it’s not needed by the time it gets to its destination, it travels all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.” Rep. Larson says the basic difference between the San Antonio and Austin situations is since Lake Travis is surface water, it would need to be treated before going into an aquifer, and that’s an added cost San Antonio doesn’t have. ”If you’re losing more to evaporation than you’re actually using than you need to look at alternative ways of storing it and I think ASRs are the future of Texas,” Rep. Larson said. “We just need to shift gears and the state needs to take leadership in building these where there’s a lot of population.”

A model that might get more traction in the five months lawmakers have to make decisions that affect Texans well into the future.

The Pennybacker Bridge is a place in Austin that people go to get away. It’s the views of the city from 60 feet from above that attracts people to the overlook. “It’s really an incredible view,” said Sean Manning, who went for a jog on the overlook for the first time on Monday. But that incredible view that everyone comes to visit turned deadly for one man on Sunday night. Phillip Short, 63, was posing for a picture with his family at the point overlooking the Pennybacker Bridge when he slipped and fell to his death.  “We found a patient who had fallen in the neighborhood a little over 60 feet below the ridge above the bridge,” said Lt. Josh Porshe, of the Austin Fire Department. Short died on the scene, after EMS crews had to deploy special units to reach him in the rough terrain more than 60 feet below the overlook. The ledge that overlooks the bridge doesn’t have any guardrails or signs to warn visitors of the rugged terrain.
“Certainly right on the edge over here and here, it seems like its a little dangerous — especially for little kids. There’s no signage, but it’s an extreme drop,” said Manning.

Since 2005, the Austin Fire Department has made 60 high-angle rescues — eight of which came from lookouts at Mount Bonnell and at the Pennybacker Bridge. While guardrails have been considered, not everyone thinks they’re necessary. Daniel Zivkovic of Oklahoma comes to the bridge every time he visits Austin. “It’s peaceful. It’s a place to think and just relax,” said Zivkovic. But he’s not convinced that a barrier at the site is the answer. “I mean, it’s kind of: Come up here at your own risk. I really don’t think there should be a rail. I like to come sit over the edge, hang my feet and look down,” he said. Officials warn visitors to take extra precautions when visiting the bridge. “It’s just a good reminder that the terrain can be treacherous and that you’ve got to be super careful in some of these areas, particularly high cliffs that have a huge drop-off,” said Porshe. And that point was not lost on those who visited the bridge on Monday. “It’s sad because they come for such a beautiful time, and it ends in tragedy,” said Manning.

A Central Texas river authority said Friday that Hill Country lakes fell short of levels sufficient to provide irrigation water to downriver rice farmers. That makes 2012 the first year in which the farmers will not get the water from the Lower Colorado River Authority.

As of Friday morning, lakes Travis and Buchanan were about 3,200 acre-feet, or more than 1 billion gallons, short of the level they’d need to reach for the farmers to receive water. LCRA spokeswoman Clara Tuma had said Thursday that the authority did not expect to reach the 850,000 acre-feet lake levels needed to provide water to the farmers.

Rice farmers have been preparing for such a situation for months. They’ve known the worst 1-year drought in Texas history had so severely depleted the Highland Lakes it was unlikely it could rain enough for them to plant their crops.  Texas is one of the six largest rice producers in the country. The farmers in the Colorado River basin make up almost three-quarters of the state’s total rice acreage.

At current lake levels, a small percentage of farmers, those with senior water rights along the river, will get about 20,000 acre-feet of water. The rest will not get any. The drought has eased in recent weeks with some significant winter rains. But most of the state still remains under some level of drought.

The winter rains in drought-stricken Central Texas have led to the largest increase in lake levels 3 feet at Lake Travis in five days since Tropical Storm Hermine brought about a foot of rain in September 2010.

In the Lower Colorado River Authority’s water operations committee meeting Tuesday, that bit of good news preceded roughly two hours of public comment and discussion about its new draft water management plan, which the LCRA is expected to vote on today.

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Lake Austin has produced three of the five ShareLunkers so far this season, but one that was caught this week already has history with the program. Landon Glass of Jarrell caught No. 528 from the lake Tuesday, Feb. 14. A scan of the fish revealed it is the same fish caught Feb. 27, 2010, by Carl Adkins of Austin, at which time it became ShareLunker 481.  Every fish entered into the program is injected with a passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag for identification if recaught. When Adkins caught the fish in 2010 it weighed 13.1 pounds; when Glass recaught it Tuesday it weighed in at 13.03 pounds.  Glass was fishing in 10 feet of 58-degree water with a football jig.  Brett Ketchum of Austin started the three-fish streak from Lake Austin when he caught ShareLunker No. 526 on Jan. 29, followed by Wesley Hayden of Round Rock with ShareLunker No. 527 on Feb. 11. The run of big fish from Lake Austin has its roots in years past. “I believe a combination of our Florida bass stocking program and good habitat have led to great production over the years,” said Marcos DeJesus, TPWD’s fisheries biologist in charge of managing the lake’s fishery. “There were probably a couple of good year classes several years ago,” he added, “and some of those individuals are now breaking that ShareLunker barrier.” Hayden was fishing in 4 feet of 57-degree water about 2 p.m. using a jig when he hooked the 13.22-pound fish. It was 26 inches long and 21.25 inches in girth. DNA testing showed Hayden’s fish to be a mixture of Florida and northern largemouth. Called “intergrades,” these fish are returned to the lake where caught as soon as possible.

Lake Austin will receive a portion of any ShareLunker fingerlings produced during the current season. Any lake that produces a ShareLunker receives a share of the season’s fingerlings, whether any of the fish from that lake are spawned or not. These fingerlings will be the offspring of pure Florida females paired with pure Florida males that are themselves the offspring of ShareLunkers. Allen Forshage, director of the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens, said only pure Florida bass are used in this selective breeding program because they grow bigger and faster than native northern largemouths. “By stocking pure Florida fingerlings from trophy fish, we will have a greater impact on the genetics of the overall largemouth population in the lake,” he said.