Pedernales Falls down to a trickle

BLANCO COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) - With 22 state parks, nature areas, and historic sites in central Texas , park rangers are vying for visitors in a down economy. But those depending on flowing water as a main attraction are finding a major disadvantage with the drought.

Pedernales Falls State Park, east of Johnson City in Blanco County, is often the scene of flash floods. Signs along the Pedernales River in that area warn visitors to leave immediately when the water starts to rise.

Since May though, the warnings serve as reminders of what this park once was. The roaring waterfall is now reduced to just a trickle. With the river just a few feet lower than normal, visitors noticed the change of scenery.

“I was kind of like, ‘Where are the falls at?’” said Tony Talanco. “There wasn’t much water moving over the falls. I kind of got an idea of how it’s supposed to look, I guess.”

Talanco and his wife Joni drove over from San Antonio after hearing of the massive falls. They were surprised at the difference after seeing the photos from a few months before in the park’s office.

“It’s still beautiful even though there doesn’t seem to be a lot of water,” said Joni.

As the water went down so did the number of visitors here. Park rangers said it is only a slight drop now, but August is just a few days away.

“August is typically our slowest month of the year visitation-wise,” said Park Manager Bill McDaniel. “The heat has caused people to leave early when they camped or even when they come out at all.”

In McDaniel’s 19 years at the park, he noticed worse droughts and knew the falls would flow once again with a significant amount of rain.

“I just know that we need more than one big downpour,” Joni added.

The Talancos enjoyed the peace found at the park due to the lack of visitors. Tony said it was almost like their own personal destination.

“I like to avoid the crowds and go when no one else is there, and that’s what makes the state parks really nice for us now.”

But when the river returns to normal, they plan to venture back to Pedernales Falls to see what they missed the first time.

The park’s Web site describes the falls as:

“Pedernales Falls is the park's main attraction and may be viewed from a scenic overlook at the north end of the park. In this area, the elevation of the river drops about 50 feet over a distance of 3000 feet, and the cascading falls are formed by the flow of water over the tilted, stair-step effect of layered limestone.”