Overall water quality in Lake Travis remains good around the area of the old boat ramp at Travis Landing; the only place currently being tested by John Anderson on behalf of the Colorado River Watch Network. LCRA has not been able to test for toxins for the second month running so toxicity levels remain unknown. In July, the drop in lake levels prevented biologists from collecting the SPATT test bag left at Arkansas Bend Park and there are no results for August because of an outbreak of Covid in the LCRA laboratory. John did report the current outbreak of hydrilla to LCRA.

 

There is no guaranteed safe place for dogs to swim, in fact LCRA still advises keeping dogs out of the Highland Lakes altogether. However, it is possible to avoid most of the algae around Travis Landing by swimming in the areas around and between our boat ramps where the water is deepest and the shore falls off sharply. Hydrilla and other types of algae have taken over the shallow water along the peninsula and around the point. Don’t forget to rinse off dogs after swimming with clean water from the hose at the gate. Please also pick up after your pet because anything left on the shoreline will become food for algae once lake levels rise. There are Dogipot bags in a dispenser beside the gate, in front of the hose.

 

Blue-green algae produces cyanotoxins and should be avoided:

 

Here is the latest summary of Travis Landing results collected by John Anderson for the Colorado River Watch Network. To see historic data going back to May 2021, go to the LCRA Site List and the entry for Site 463 (Travis Landing), located in segment 1404.