Spring break outings at Lake Grapevine will have to wait until next year.
Boat ramps and parks there remain closed, nine months after last year's spring floods first closed them.
"We miss our lake, having a nice lake," said Carmen McDonald, who lives near Oak Grove Park.
On Tuesday, the lake level was still 14 feet above normal conservation stage, last swollen by heavy rains last fall.
"In these warm temperatures, people want to get out and they want to get in the parks, but they got to have a place to go," said Kenneth Myers, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "And right now, it's just the water occupying the space where the people want to be, so they just can't get in there yet."
The Corps is now releasing water through the floodgates at a rate of 2,000 cubic-feet per second, but even then the lake level will drop just one foot every three days.
At that rate, the lake won't return to normal for another month – and that's without any more rain.
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"It's been a bummer all year," said Chris Perry, of Grapevine. "I can't ride. All the trails are cut off from the water, and it's pretty dirty, too."
Only two parks are even partially open – Oak Grove and Rockledge – and the Vineyards Campground & Cabins isn't expected to reopen until the summer.
"I know the campground is accepting reservations right now for Memorial Day weekend, that's May," said Mona Burk, with the city of Grapevine. "They're hoping to open maybe before that, but there's just no way to know."
