Water stops rising at Eagle Mountain, Grapevine lakes, Lake Worth

A handful of homes at Eagle Mountain Lake were flooded before the lake crested about 2 a.m. Saturday.

Steven Metzler with the Tarrant Regional Water District said the water level at Eagle Mountain has begun to recede and should continue to do so. He said about four homes along the lake were affected by the rising water, which reached about a foot higher than when it was over capacity in late May.

Lake Worth, which is downstream from Eagle Mountain on the West Fork of the Trinity River, was believed to have crested by Saturday evening, when its elevation was about 597.5 feet, said Mary Gugliuzza, spokeswoman for the Fort Worth Water Department. That’s about 31/2 feet over its normal capacity.

“We anticipate that it is stabilizing and will not go above this level and will subsequently start to recede,” she said.

One unoccupied structure had water in it, she said.

On Friday, homeowner Mary Ford said the water was creeping closer.

“I’ve got about 8 inches before it’s in my home,” Ford said. On Saturday evening, her husband, John Ford, said the water hadn’t reached the house.

At Lake Grapevine, which has flooded in the area around Grapevine Mills mall, the water was about 2 feet above the spillway at noon.

“It appears to be holding fairly steady ... which means it appears to have stopped rising,” said Jim Frisinger, Army Corps of Engineers spokesman.

The city of Grapevine issued a disaster declaration late Wednesday and closed Farm Road 2499 in both directions because of the rising water in Lake Grapevine and Denton Creek. The city said a motorist had to be rescued on the road Saturday after driving into high water.

Frisinger said lake levels and discharge rates should continue to decline and will become much more manageable for municipalities by Tuesday.

The lake crested at 563 feet on Saturday, the highest it has been since November 1981, when it was at 563.5 feet.

Frisinger said that it will take several days for the water level to recede and that boating is discouraged at the lake because of debris and submerged structures in flooded areas such as parks.

Water from Lake Ray Roberts continues to flow into Lake Lewisville, which will keep water levels elevated, Frisinger said. He said the amount of water discharging from Lake Lewisville has declined.

The lakes are full because of the wettest May on record and a heavy dose of rain that was dumped on North Texas last week by the remnants from Tropical Storm Bill.

So far this year Dallas-Fort Worth Airport has received 33.99 inches of rain, 15.30 inches above normal.

This story was originally published June 20, 2015 at 8:50 AM with the headline "Water stops rising at Eagle Mountain, Grapevine lakes, Lake Worth."