Water Levels Dip to Historic Lows at Lake Casitas

Water levels at our local lakes are reaching a historic low. In mid-January, Lake Casitas is more than 68 feet down from spill level, and even though in the last few weeks we have gotten a good amount of rain, all that rain only added 2 to 3 inches to the lake.

“As far as rain goes, I thought there would be a lot more because like I said, I haven’t been up here in three weeks. I thought it would be up a little bit more but it doesn’t look like it’s made a dent,” said fisherman Tim Larue as he finished up a day of fishing.
“The lake is about 42 percent full, which is the lowest it has been since about 1967, and that is a concern for us because even during the largest El Ninos we have seen a 40 percent refill and that wouldn’t be enough to fill up the lake at this time, so it looks like we will be in a multi-year phase before we get to full lake capacity,” said Ron Merckling of the Casitas Municipal Water District.

Earlier this month, lake levels dropped so low that there was no longer a ramp accessing the lake that boats could launch from. Instead of waiting on Mother Nature to bring more rain so they could go fishing again, a group of local fishermen got creative.

“They came up with a plan and put in Marsden matting, which is this medal-like fabric that the military uses for landing aircrafts on the temporary runways and it appears to be working for us,” said Merckling.
While the water is low at Lake Casitas, it is now one of the only lakes in our area that is still available for boat launching.

Merckling says that despite the rain we are getting, we are still in a drought and reservoir levels, including Lake Casitas are at historic lows, so people need to conserve. He wants residents to remember, when it rains, to turn off irrigation systems for at least the next week.