duffygould

I've been hearing rumors (which may be true) about the water being...unhealthy at calaveras and braunig. can anyone shed any light on this for me. because I'm just picking up fishing once again and would love to fish out at those lakes (went to calaveras myself this weekend), but when i catch something big enough i want to fillet and eat it. please if anyone can tell me what they know about the water/fish there at these two lakes i would surely be very thankful.

duffygould

Shannon

The waters at both lakes are warmer than average because both lakes are cooling lakes for neighboring power plants. The waters are not pumped in from any secondary source that I am aware of, and there are no abnormal pollution sources nearby that I am aware of (having flown over both lakes many times with Justin).

What do these rumored "unhealthy" waters do?

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Turn Key

Hi Duffy and welcome aboard! Hope we can help a bit.

Can't speak for those two bodies of water but I do know that there have been a number of warnings about different lakes. I'm not sure just how much stock I put in any of these warnings by so called "experts". These are the same types of people who, back in the mid-70s, told us that their tests proved that saccharin was going to kill us all. Of course, that assumed that the "normal" human being was going to consume 800 cans of deit soda per day for 7 years :rolleyes: . That has caused me to read these warnings with a bit of a jaded eye.

None the less, I do look at the way the waters in Texas have changed over the years. This has caused me to think twice about eating fish that I catch. There are a number of places where I don't worry much but, these are "private" lakes and ponds and a few flowing rivers and streams. Most places, I choose to "catch & release". To be honest, with the exception of crappie and large bluegills, all of my fishing is "catch & release". If I want fish to eat, it's easy enough to go to the store and buy catfish. I find catfish much better eating then bass but not as good as crappie or 'gills. This leaves the trophy bass in the lake for all to have fun with.

I really don't believe that there is any huge risk in eating fish caught in most Texas waters. I just don't see the point when there is an abundance of farm-raised fish on the market, often on sale at a very good price. Of course, this is my choice and you are welcome to make yours. All I ask is that you conserve the great blessings that we in Texas enjoy.

Happy Camping!

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rockhill

The fact they are cooling lakes would not make them more suspect as being tainted. The intake, circulation and exhaust of the water is seperated from plant operations. The warmer temps would add to increased algae bloom and maybe some off taste. Now, as for what may or may not be in the watershed feeding these lakes that is a different story. TPWD monitors these lakes and if there was a health hazard they would post warnings to that effect. I agree with Turn Key on the catch and release, but would have no problems dining on some either. Observe the waters especially in the wetland areas. If something looks funny, or you see excessive fish kill, stick to catch and release. Safe, clean store bought fish is cheap compared to a trip to the emergency room!

Electric Water Boy

I did boiler and cooling water treatment at both lakes for about 15 years.

Does the boiler water ever get put into the lake? Yes. Each unit when running puts in anywhere from 500 to 1,000 gallons per hour of darn near pure water. The "impurities" would be sodium phoshates usually at less tham 3 ppm and ammonia in the ppb range. pH would be around 9.0 to 9.5. Everything else is in the very low ppb or nondetect range.

Cooling water is treated with scale inhibitors. Used to be phosphates, but now it is something else. What's pumped now takes 5 minutes or more to set the pump rates because it takes that long to get a measurable flow.

Cooling water is also treated with sodium hypchlorite (basically extra strength bleach) and sodium bromide. Where the cooling water goes back to the lake the levels are next to nothing. As a side note, of all the things at the plant that could potentially kill me (2,600 psi, 1,005 F steam, large objects spinning at 3,600 rpm or better, high places, etc, the thing that scared me is what the hypchlorite and bromide replaced - chlorine. That's some nasty bad stuff to deal with).

The water lab checks the lake weekly. The thing I noticed over the years was the pH change. It would go up when there was no rain. When rain came it would go up for a short while and then drop. I assume this was due to runoff in the creeks feeding the lake.

The main makeup to both lakes is the San Antonio River. Most would think CPS Energy pumps water for free, taking water from the river that springs out of the ground just north of downtown. CPS Energy has to buy the water, which is sewage water effluent. The river is used as a "pipeline." Before you go yuck, the water downstream of the treatment lant is cleaner that what's upstream. That water may have been clean coming out of the ground, but go walk the Riverwalk and see all the crap that gets washed into the river.

So, to cut to the chase - Are the fish safe to eat? Yes. I plan of camping at Braunig in a few weeks, catching some cats, fry'em up, and sit back with some buddies and tell fish stories.

campermom

Fish from Calli or Braunig are fine to eat. I've caught and consumed numerous large red fish, (the largest being 33 1/2! Yea, that's right) and we didn't die, grow another foot, nor does anyone at my house glow in the dark. You certainly wouldn't want to let the kids swim in there. There's plenty of un-recovered fishing line and submerged debris which would make an unsafe environment for the kids. My largest complaint about the lakes is that the restrooms get yucky when the park is crowded. If you don't catch anything, THEN you can go to HEB and buy a pound of fish.

duffygould

thank y'all so much for all the information you have given me! this site has been a huge help and encouragement for me to start up fishing. I'm 22 and didn't do a whole lot of fishing while a child but recently fished during my bachelor party (2 weekends ago) at LBJ lake and then i was hooked! so now I've been once to Calaveras this last Friday and didn't get a single bit in the 6 hours we were there. but ill keep going back!

But really thanks for the info, ill be eating the big cats and tossin the rest back.

ken1@mecwb.com

we are all going to die sometime, might as well be eating fish

Turn Key

True and I'm not much worried about it when the day comes but...there are waaay too many places that I want to camp between now and then !

Welcome aboard, Ken! Hope you enjoy your time here!

Happy Camping!

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Hippy

I agree with the others who vote to get your fish from the store! Don't get me wrong I love eating what I catch but the risk is too great, I will only eat my catch maybe once per or every other year.

http://texas.sierraclub.org/air/20060213.asp

Just my .02