THE PERDENALES RIVER AND THE LAKE BUCHANAN REPORT

We did some driving and shopping and relaxing this weekend by taking a Hill Country drive, up Highway 71 west of Austin near Llano. We crossed the Perdenales River both ways, and I am sad to report that it is but a ghost of it's former self, despite all of the recent rain. It was a small channel running through the middle of it's river bed, with the dry boathouses and docks and piers many yards away from the water, perched precariously in some cases on uneven river bottom.

I went on a winter camping trip with Billy Ray and El Fishing Musician Jr. in January of 2008, and it was strong running and full then. I thought about how nice it'd be to rent one of the river houses there near the Hwy. 71 bridge or thereabouts that had a pier or a boathouse for some night fishing. Then came the droughts of 2008 and 2009 and there you have it.

A good friend, a lawyer but still a believeable individual, reported taking a trip to the eastern side of the lake, to the Eagles place that normally has the lake and river cruises that in winter and spring often spot the wintering bald eagles near the river. My friend said the lake was all but dry, consisting of puddles where he was at in the river channel, and that it too was a ghost of it's former self.

My recent trip up to East Texas showed water water everywhere. On the other hand, Central and West Texas and the Hill Country, among other areas, were just hit so damn hard this summer with the drought. Many of these areas have been geting a good bit of rain the past few days.