Canyon Lake water businesses struggle as all boat ramps are closed

f twenty-three boat ramps on Canyon Lake, Boat Ramp 18 was the final open for public use.

As of last week, it is now shut down.

"We only had about 13 feet of concrete left in the water which is not long enough to launch any trailer of any real size," says Mike Dussere. Dussere is the General Manager of the Water Oriented Recreation District (WORD) of Comal County.

WORD monitors the Canyon Lake water level and determines if boat ramps are operational. Since the lake is at record low levels, all boat ramps are closed to the public and it is being felt in the community.

"We're basically out of business," says Paul Lower of Canyon Lake Jet Ski & Boat Rentals. He says they had a 50% reduction in business this summer as boat ramps began to close one by one.

"Expenses doubled, in some cases tripled. Labor doubled, tripled," says Lower.

To fill Canyon Lake, rain needs to fall near Kerrville to create a consistent flow on the Guadalupe River upstream from Canyon Lake. Until then, ramps will stay closed.

It's tough now, but the community is confident the lake will fill up eventually.

"It's never been this low before, but it's definitely been low. And we've seen it fill up in a weekend," says Dussere.

Just because the lake is closed, the river is not. The community wants you to know they're open for business.

Construction continues on boat ramps 2, 6, and 8 to extend them further. However, boat ramps 18 and 19 are the ramps that go deepest and will be the first to reopen once water levels start to rise.