"It has never come back up since that time," Leander City Manager Todd Parton told KVUE. He meant the lake at Lakewood Park, the 125-acre city park east of 183A Toll and south of Crystal Falls Parkway.
The water started dropping in September 2025. More than a year later the shoreline is still farther out than it used to be, and the kayak stand is still closed. The early explanation was a contractor error that rain and creek flow would fix. That explanation no longer applies. The district that controls the dam now says the lower lake is the correct one.
A higher lake now depends on a decision by that district, which has said recreation is not its focus.
The district says the old water level was the error
Upper Brushy Creek Water Control and Improvement District runs the dam beside the lake, which it calls Dam 3. According to KXAN's Oct. 22 report, the district says someone without authorization covered the dam's low-flow ports sometime after 2018. It calls that "illegal planking." The district says it found the covers during maintenance, and that removing them caused the water to drop. City records cited in the same report put those port covers at about 872.8 feet above mean sea level.
Community Impact reported the change in plain numbers. The lake went from 876.2 feet to 872.8 feet in late 2025, a drop of nearly four feet. The district's view, as the outlet reported it, is that the planking had created "an artificially higher lake level." Community Impact's earlier coverage said the district considers the lower level the one called for by the dam's 1962 design.
In the district's telling, the lake people remember came from covers that should never have been installed, so bringing it back would mean choosing a higher level rather than fixing a fault.
The city doesn't accept that. Leander's own Lakewood Park lake update says city officials "are challenging the decision to keep the lake at these new lower levels."
A higher lake would be a new decision, with conditions
The district has given its reasons in writing. In a statement published by KXAN, it said:
"The dam was built in 1962 to reduce flooding and capture sediment."
The district also said its focus is not the lake's recreational use. It added that "higher lake levels would require the auxiliary spillway be raised to maintain flood storage capacity and avoid downstream flooding."
In August, the district's board hired the engineering firm Freese and Nichols for a preliminary study. The district presented early findings at a board work session on Oct. 14, and its published agenda lists a "Dam 3 Flood Storage Analysis." The district told KXAN that raising the water permanently would put more of Lakewood Park underwater during storms and make floodwater take longer to drain. It also said it would affect neighboring property owners.
The city's request comes with its own obstacle. Assistant City Manager Edwin Revell told the Leander City Council that the surrounding property owners would all have to agree. "All of those property owners have to give unanimous consent," he said, according to KXAN. "It's not necessarily a given that we restore the lake level, but at least that puts the request in front of them formally from the city."
Even if the district agreed, then, a higher lake would involve spillway work, more study and unanimous agreement from nearby owners. A wet winter won't bring the water back.
The park was built for the higher number
This matters for park visitors because the waterfront features were designed around the old lake level. KVUE reported that the kayak launch and fishing pier were built for a level of roughly 877 feet, and that at roughly 873 feet they could no longer be used. Parton gave KXAN a similar gap: "So today it still sits at the 873. So it's four feet below historical levels."
The kayak stand shows the effect most clearly. In October 2025, KXAN reported that Paddle EZ, the family-owned company that rented boats at Lakewood, had closed the stand in July while it waited on replacement equipment. By the time it was ready to reopen, the water had dropped. The company described Lakewood as its largest operation. The city's park page still lists kayak rentals as an amenity and still says the launch and rental service are "temporarily unavailable."
The lake is still being stocked. Texas Parks and Wildlife's stocking records for Lakewood Lake show three 2025 stockings: 1,224 channel catfish, 4,971 Lone Star largemouth bass and 35 adult ShareLunker largemouth bass. The ShareLunker fish come from the state's trophy-bass program, so the lake still has fish worth catching. The pier was built for a different shoreline. The city's park page doesn't say fishing is prohibited. KXAN's photos from last fall show anglers working the bay where catfish are caught.
What the park offers away from the water this month
The city lists several features that have nothing to do with the lake level:
- The dog park
- The skate park
- Trails
- Basketball and volleyball courts
- The playground
- The large pavilion with restrooms, plus the smaller lakeside pavilions
The splash pad is closed for the year. The city ran its 2026 season seven days a week "now through October."
The pavilions can still be reserved, and cooler weather makes them more appealing for birthday parties and family gatherings. The city's rental sheet lists these rates for several of the lakeside pavilions:
| Booking | Weekday | Weekend |
|---|---|---|
| Standard 3-hour block | $75 | $100 |
| Full day | $175 | $225 |
| Litter and damage deposit, all rentals | $100 | $100 |
In fall and winter, rental time slots start one hour later than in summer. The two splash pad pavilions, Bluebonnet Pavilion and the Toddler Area, are booked through the same city rental catalog.
Lakewood isn't hosting any city programming this season. Leander's November Parks and Recreation calendar puts events at Devine Lake Park and Veterans Park. December's calendar is centered on the Old Town Christmas Festival on Dec. 5 in Old Town Leander.
How the dispute got here, and the next date
The city's request has become more formal over the past 14 months. The timeline below combines the city's update page with Community Impact's and KXAN's reporting.
- September 2025: The lake begins dropping. City staff contact the district on Sept. 19.
- Oct. 30, 2025: According to Community Impact, the district tells the city the lake is at the proper level.
- December 2025: At the district's Dec. 17 board meeting, the president of the Lakewood Country Estates HOA reads a letter about the Dam 3 lake level during public comment.
- January to February 2026: The city asks for records and receives more than 4,000 documents.
- June 2026: The city finishes reviewing them. On June 18 it sends a follow-up letter asking about the timeline of lake-level changes and the inspection history of the low-flow ports.
- Aug. 12, 2026: The district's board hires Freese and Nichols for its preliminary study.
- Oct. 1, 2026: The Leander City Council votes to formally ask for the lake to be restored to 876.2 feet and for the remaining documents from the June request.
- Oct. 14, 2026: The district presents preliminary study findings at a public work session.
- Oct. 27, 2026: The city files an open records request with the district.
The next scheduled step belongs to the district. It told KXAN it expects to give another update on the study "between December 2026 and February 2027 after additional analysis is completed." City leaders have made it clear they want more than a study. "I think that we've been far too patient for far too long," one council member said at the Oct. 1 meeting, as KXAN reported.
Until then, the lake stays roughly four feet lower than people remember. The city posts its updates on the Lakewood Park lake update page, and that is the place to check after the district's winter update.
I've lived in Austin my whole life, and I keep a close eye on the parks and public spaces around north Leander, from Lakewood to the Crystal Falls side of the parkway. If you have questions about how a park like Lakewood or a special district like Upper Brushy Creek WCID fits into a home search in Leander, Jeff Joseph can help you sort out the details. Let's Connect.
