The Highland Lakes in the Hill Country

Lorilee and Pam discuss the Highland Lakes in the Hill Country.  Lakes LBJ, Marble Falls, Inks Lake, Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis are the lakes that comprise the Highland Lakes just west of Austin.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

And go. And good afternoon, Texas Lake Syndicate. Howdy! Back in action, Pam, Laura Lee.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

And today we're gonna be talking about lakes in the hill country. That's right. We're at a totally different side of the lake. But I thought that maybe just we should go back and reintroduce ourselves just a little bit in case you missed our first showing. This is showing number two. So I know, right? We're we're almost pros. We won't go that far. Okay. So anyway, um, we are the Texas Lake Syndicate and we work for Lake Homes Realty. And the thing about Lake Homes Realty is they are all over lakes in Texas, actually all over in the United States. Yes. But in Texas, they have shellings of houses on 229 different lakes. And so we have, I think, 189. No, wait, not that many. 29 agents or something like that in Texas. But um we know a lot about lakes in Texas, and so we thought we could talk to you about different lakes and different things that happen at lakes that maybe you do or don't know about, and help you pick a lake to love and come live on it, and we'll help you.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Yes, we will.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

So, anyway, that's what what we're doing, and then um we work uh with for Lake Homes Realty, they're out of Birmingham, Alabama, and um we are the Texas Lake Syndicate because we're the biggest part of all of it. That's right. That's right. So, anyway, um we are gonna talk about lake topics and lakes. So the topic that we want to talk about today is a little known subject about who owns the land under the water. And who knew? Who knew it was a topic?

SPEAKER_01 1:42

That's right. On Lake, yeah, on Lake Livingston, it's a non-issue.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Nobody, nobody has rights to the land under the water, but everybody has rights to the water, right? Everybody has rights to the water, correct. Nobody has rights to land under the water, and I didn't know that until I was talking to a client of mine who was fixing to buy a house on Lake Buchanan, and the neighbors told her that somebody else owned her waterfront, and she was beside herself. And how weird is that, by the way. I know how weird is that, and to come to find out, it was absolutely true. And Lake Buchanan and Marble Falls and a couple other places in the on the lakes and the highlands, these were all done by the Army Corps engineers, and at some point there was all this land, and they bought all the land and they made lakes out of because Texas has need for water and reservoirs, yeah, and so that's what what they did. But anyway, the land actually belongs to somebody and has passed down over the years, even though it's underwater, it has passed down over the years. So I did a little research and I found the man who owned the land under the water, and he had bought it from a man who had inherited it from his dad, who had bought it from somebody else, and they had title all the way back to sovereignty of Texas.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

Explain to them what sovereignty means. We used to be our own country.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

That's right, yes, we were. So, anyway, they could they showed the title of that land all the way back that far when he went and had the title research done. So, anyway, he offered to sell back to different folks who wanted to buy the lot right in front of their house, and then on the other side of the lake, somebody else owned it all. So it was kind of uh well, the media was covering it all the way to Austin, so it was kind of crazy, but it actually is a thing. So if you don't know, you should if you're buying a house on the lake, you may just want to ask your realtor if you actually own the lake. Sometimes people own it to the middle of the lake. Really? Yeah. Sometimes they own from their seawall to the middle of the lake, as this one gentleman did. Right. He owned from people's seawall to the middle of the lake. And then he would sell that to them, that part right in front of their lots. And it was legal, everything was legal to do, but it's just a thing that a lot of people don't know about, and in some lakes it's not an issue. Um, in some lakes it is. Like, for instance, um, where I live in Lake Highlands, it is five lakes that all run down the Colorado River. So the Colorado River starts way up. Well, it doesn't go all the way to Colorado, but it's a different Colorado River, but it comes down all the way through five or six different lakes all the way down into Austin and then right on from there. And it's fed by several different other rivers. But they have made lakes in five different places off of the Colorado River, making reservoirs for that area for water. So the um the biggest one is Buchanan, which they have at the top, and then it runs down. So some of them are owned by the Lower Colorado River Authority, which what is it that you call yours here? Trinity?

SPEAKER_01 5:19

Ours is the Trinity River Authority.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Trinity River Authority, yeah. So a lot of the land is owned by the Colorado River Authority, and um anybody can use the water, but the land underneath it, and the Lower Colorado River Authority only can say if you are doing your boat dock wrong.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

Right. That's that's the extent of their authority, your your bulkhead and your boat dock.

SPEAKER_00 5:43

Yes. You have to get permitted, you know, permission from them. To do all that, and you can't do beyond this or that or the other.

SPEAKER_01 5:49

Right.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

But anyway, all that to say, that is a little known subject that sometimes you need to ask about. I talked to somebody not too long ago who had owned their house for 30 years and didn't know who owned the land under the water in front of our house.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

Well, and it's not on every lake. That's what's so weird. I didn't know about it until I had a client bring it up to me and they asked me who owned the land, and I'm like, um the Trinity River Authority. I don't know because it would had never come up because that was not a thing here.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Yeah. Now, here do you have the thing where there is an easement up into beyond your yes?

SPEAKER_01 6:25

They call that the flow easement. Yes, so explain that one. So the flow easement is a portion of your property when you're on the lake. Whatever, you're getting all the pictures. When you when you buy land on the lake, you own uh up to the water, obviously. Um, I lost my train of thought. Where are we going for the flow? Flow easement. Thank you. Flow easement. Okay, sorry. So flowage easement, there's a portion of your property that's in the flowage easement. If the Trinity River Authority felt the need to let the water level come up to a certain point, that's what that flow easement is about. They have the authority to actually cover part of your land with water. With water. However, uh is it 10 feet here? Well, it varies. Okay. Kind of varies a little bit, depends on the shoreline and all that kind of good stuff. But ultimately, if they let the water get that high, it would almost be high enough to go over the dam. Ah. So since the lake has been here since 1969, they've never had to do that. They've never tried to do that, they've never wanted to do that. And literally, we're considered one of the only constant level lakes. So we don't typically fluctuate more than a couple feet.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

And you're held up, you're held up by a dam, right? Yes. What dam are you on?

SPEAKER_01 7:48

The Lake Livingston Dam.

SPEAKER_00 7:50

The Lake Livingston Dam. The one by my house is the words dam.

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

No, this is just Livingston Dam. It does not have a special name as far as I know. Okay, we have several dams by us because we have the five different lakes.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

But anyway, so that's another thing to know is what the flowage easement is on your property, just so that you know. I mean, you may never need to know or have any problem with it, but it's kind of a good thing to ask, and something that everybody doesn't know about.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Well, and most lenders, fun fact, you can't have your home built in the flowage easement because the TRTRA has command over that dirt. So you can't, so therefore, a lender's not going to lend there because if they did have a need to raise the lake, your house would be in the water. Your house would be in the water, and insurance wouldn't pay. They don't like that. And the lender wouldn't get their money. You know how that goes. So that's what it's different than the floodplain. Yes, don't confuse that with the floodplain. That's right. That's that's a different thing. And not talking about we'll talk about that on another one. Yeah, not everybody's in the floodplain. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:53

So, so those are good questions to talk to whenever you're looking at land. Um, ask your realtor if you actually own the land under the water out in front of your place and how far out, or if it's owned by, say, the Trinity River Authority or the Lower Colorado River Authority, LCRA. Um, it's just a good thing to know. And maybe it's not a deal at all, but hey, you'll sure look smart when you ask.

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Well, and fun fact too, unless your focus as a realtor is on lake property, your average realtor would not know that answer. They wouldn't even know who to call to get the answer.

SPEAKER_00 9:30

So that's why you gotta call Lake.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Yeah, so it's really important to call someone that literally focuses on water products. That's what we do all the time. And that we every day we learn these things through trial and error. And I mean, I had no idea about owning the land under the lake. I thought that was the craziest thing I'd ever heard. But I just hadn't been uh on a lake though that map. Yeah, it just it was a non-issue here. It never even crossed my mind. So it's understandable that the average agent wouldn't have that knowledge. So nothing against them. They just would they don't know that they don't know. Right.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

So so that's that's one of the good reasons to make sure that when you're hiring an agent, let's say you're gonna move here to Lake Livingston um or to Lake LBJ, you want to hire somebody who's in that area and knows that area, not your best friend from Dallas who you know can look stuff up for you. You need somebody who really knows what's going on in that market because it's different in each market and each lake. There's different things.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

Well, and if they're not a lake agent, they don't know the right questions to ask you to make sure you're buying the correct waterfront property. Yeah, there's so many variables.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

Yeah, there are so many. And I tell you what, every single time I buy or sell one for a client, I learn something new. Yes. Every single time. Every time. Oh, that too. Septic. Oh, that's a whole nother story. We'll do an episode. Yeah, we'll do another septic system. So take notes, things we gotta talk about. Um okay, so anyway, those are some subjects that you may want to talk about. So now we're gonna talk about my lake. Yes, we all have she has five. I only have one and she has five. Yeah, but they all together might make up your lake. I don't know. They would all fit in my leg. Probably, probably. But anyway, um, I live on what is called the Highland Lakes, and it is five lakes that run from Buchanan on the Colorado River all the way down up down into Austin, and it's fed by the Lano, and I think Pardon Alice when it gets down there, down there by Austin. So um, but I specifically uh work in the upper Highland Lakes, which is Buchanan, Inks Lake, uh Lake LBJ, where I am, and uh Marble Falls, and then um Lake Travis, we have another lady on our team, Nancy, who is expert on Lake Travis. I don't know that much about it, but if you call me about it, I will send you her number. There you go. But anyway, she's she's an expert on Lake Travis, and um then um Libby and I, who are on that team, uh, do Buchanan, LBJ, Marble Falls, and Inks. And each one of those are wildly different lakes, even though they're all flowing out of the same Colorado River, each one of them is very, very different and goes when you want to um when somebody's asking about it, you need to know hey, are you a fisherman? Is that what you really want to concentrate on? Yes, or do you just have a speedboat and you just want to go for miles? You know, what lake do you want to be on? Because if that's what you want to do, I'm not gonna tell you Marble Falls, because Marble Falls is what did I say? It's 5.7 miles long.

SPEAKER_01 12:41

Yeah, it's a small lake, it's a great lake.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

It's a great lake, it's so quiet, it's so nice, it's clear, and it's right there in Marble Falls. You can sit over the in the riverside cafe and look out over all the colours.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

Oh, the views are spectacular, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:55

It's gorgeous, and then it's down in the canyons and all that, so so cool. But Marble Falls is the small as a smaller one, and then Inks Lake is what is known as people like to say constant level. Bruce told me not to say that. Okay, I I think he said managed level. Okay, I'm not supposed to say constant level tomato. Constant level, but the point is that because it's managed by dams, as you were talking about, it because it's managed by dams, they have to keep it at a certain level. And there is a power plant, I call it the water fairy's castle. There is a power plant where the water fairies spend all day turning water into electricity, so they have to keep it at a level where that can work. Right. So um Lake LBJ is what they call a constant level or a managed level lake, and Lake Inks Lake is the same way, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:52

And there aren't that many in the state that are considered managed level or constant level. Yeah, there's not that many.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

No, so what happens is let's say for instance, Lake Travis or Buchanan, much larger lakes, but not managed level. There you go. So I can remember when we had the big drought year before last. I was out showing property at Lake Buchanan, and I pulled up, it was the spring, it was like April, and I pulled up, and I'm like, oh my gosh, they got water! How did they get water? It was all blue bonnets. The whole lake was covered in blue bonnets. I mean, it was gorgeous. It was gorgeous, but it was not water, it was not water, so you can't ride your boat in blue bonnets. No, so anyway, um, but it was beautiful. But so now the lake is back up. I think I looked today, the cannon is at 93%. So that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Okay, do you happen to know what the what the capacity at Travis is at right now?

unknown 14:49

I know.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

That's always the one people talking about. You want to look that up on the case? Oh, I can't. I can't.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Anyway, but no, I'm just curious because that was.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

It's up to, I think it's up to like, I want to say like 70%. No, no, no, wait. Uh that's more than that. It's more than that. It was like 90%. It's a good rain. Yeah, we we had lots of rain, and there was some sad things that happened because of all the rain over there by us. Yeah. Which tragic. Too much of a good thing. Too much of a good thing, very tragic um loss of life due to the floods. But um, our levels are all back up, and I can tell you on Lake McCannon, it is it's kind of have has a different reputation because of the fact that the water can go down so low. But the great thing about McCannon is how long it is, it is 31 miles long. I I was voting with friends one day, and we got way out there. There's waterfalls in these canyons, and I mean, you look like you're in Disney World or something, you know, with all these waterfalls coming down. It's so cool. Totally lost track of time. My husband's like calling me, and I had my phone, you know, in the seat in here. He's like, Are you coming home? I'm like, What? Nope. So, yeah, so it's it's lovely, and then ride all the way back up there up the Colorado River is spectacular. You have to see it, but it's known as a fishing lake, and so there's lots of little cubbies and coves and places you can go, and it's well known for fishing there in Buchanan. And then um, you have Lake LBJ, which is known for being constant managed level, right? But it's very long as well. Um, I think what did I tell you was LBJ's length? 21 miles, 21 miles. So it's long, but it's a narrow because it's really part of the river until you get to about granite shoals, that area, and then the whole thing opens out, then you have a huge, huge lake. So you got horseshoe bay, granite shoals, um, sunrise, all of that right there in that really super duper open area. And so that is well loved by people who like to take their kids um boating or tubing and skiing and that's that's what that's good for.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Oh, yeah, the wake boats for them to ride, surf on the on the wakes.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

Exactly. That's very, very popular. And then, of course, you have the Horseshoe Bay Resort there, which has its own popularity. Yeah, so um, you've got all those people that are there for the resort and then using the excuse me, the the marinas and the pools and all that stuff there at the resort, which is Oh, it's it's beautiful. We stayed one time and it was it was lovely. It's it's really, really fun. So, um, and if you just want to come visit it and check it out, I would recommend staying at the Horseshoe Bay Resort. It's it's a very, very nice. It was very nice. And um, and then also if you go to Hidden Falls, that used to be the Hampton Inn and Marble Falls. Oh, okay. And they've redone it and it's very nice. So you can easily go there and get a great taste for what's all there. Because the other part of that is we're about 45 minutes west of B Cave, which is the far west side of Austin. Right. So if I want to go to Sam's or if I want to go to all the shishu places, I'm not far, and it's just I get on 71 and it's a straight shot over there. It's so easy. So it's a lot of people even commute to Austin from from Horseshoe Bay and Marble Falls and and all of that area. So it's a great area there, and then Marble Falls is such a cute little. Have you been to downtown Marble Falls?

SPEAKER_01 18:25

I mean, who doesn't go to the Blue Bonnet Cafe? The Blue Bonnet Cafe pies ever and been there since what? Forever.

SPEAKER_00 18:35

29, 1929, or something very, very long time. Same family all the time, something crazy like that.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

Maybe not 29. Still there, fabulous breakfast. And again, can't say enough about the bonnet.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

So early, you will be standing in line.

SPEAKER_01 18:47

Yes, you will.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

And you know what else you'll see while you're standing in line? A picture of Bruce Jones' team. Oh, we're on the wall. My husband goes to a Bible study there early, early in the morning. He's like, As your picture every day. Every day. But anyway, Blue Bonnet Cafe is lovely, and there are so many restaurants and cute little shows. Have you been to the Crooked Antler in Marble Falls?

SPEAKER_01 19:15

I have not. You know, we had a deer lace in Marble Falls years and years and years ago. And Crooked Antler dress shop. There was nothing there. There were crooked or otherwise. There was nothing there. Lots of cute clothes.

SPEAKER_00 19:28

I think you can come back and shop. Yes, you do. And it's done so well there. The little downtown area is just a nice area with restaurants and shops and all that you need to go to. And lots of sculptures. They have lots of sculptures there too. Ooh, and you know that um that picture of Jesus um that the girl drew when she was like eight years old and all that? Yeah. The originals in Marble Falls. No way. I didn't know that. Yeah. Oh wow. Yeah, you have to look at Beloved Cafe. Okay. They have all that there. So anyway, oh my goodness, we've talked a long time already.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

We have talked a long time. I have a lot of time we have so much to talk about. I know. So this is why you're gonna see us consistently because there are so many lakes and so many noteworthy things when it comes to lake life. I know, I know.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

We got lots to tell you, yeah, and lots to hear from you, we hope. So um, we will see you again in March and um hope to hear your comments.

unknown 20:21

Bye.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Life is short by the low by the lake house.