Amistad lake rises nearly 1.6 feet after storms in Val Verde County

Lake Amistad climbed to 1,055.52 feet above sea level by 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, rising nearly 1.6 feet in 48 hours as floodwater from storms in Del Rio and across Val Verde County drained into the reservoir. Water Data for Texas put the lake at about 36% full, up from 30% a week earlier.

An Amistad National Recreation Area post that morning put the lake at 1,055.72 feet, up 0.35 feet from the day before, 6.75 feet from the previous week and 7.93 feet from a month earlier. Lake Amistad was 30.3% of capacity on July 4 at 1,051.02 feet.

Fluctuating lake levels alter access and create hazards at many locations, and park managers have urged visitors to check current conditions because shorelines, launch points and other access areas can shift fast after a storm cycle.

The rise came amid a broader weather disruption that had already hit the county. A flood warning for Val Verde County ran from 2:06 a.m. July 19 until 5:00 a.m. July 20, and Highway 90 between Uvalde and Del Rio was closed because of flooding. That same runoff helped push water into Amistad, but it also left debris, unstable edges and other safety concerns around the reservoir.

Amistad International Reservoir sits in Val Verde County, Texas, and Coahuila, Mexico, with the dam about 12.8 river miles above Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña. Texas has rights to 56.2% of the reservoir’s total conservation capacity. From 2011 to 2020, total U.S. inflow into Amistad was 33% lower than from 1981 to 1990.

Amistad National Recreation Area protects many archeological sites in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands, and storm-driven reservoir fluctuations can threaten pictographs such as those at Panther Cave.