Editing Lake Austin (section)

==Recreational uses==
Lake Austin is a popular fishing and boating destination.

===Boating===
Numerous companies rent out sailboats, motorboats, jet skis/waverunners, canoes, pontoon boats, and large party boats in the Austin area.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k6692W5sYakC&pg=PA303|title = Insiders' Guide to Austin|year = 1999|isbn = 9780762755684| last1=Hylton | first1=Hilary | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield }}</ref>

The Austin Parks and Recreation Department offers classes in canoeing, kayaking, and sailing.<ref name=":0" />

===Fish and wildlife populations===
Lake Austin has been stocked with several species of fish intended to improve the utility of the reservoir for recreational fishing. The lake is considered to have an excellent stock of [[largemouth bass]].<ref name="PWD">{{cite web|title=Lake Austin|url=http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/recreational/lakes/austin/|access-date=21 April 2015|website=[[Texas Parks and Wildlife Department]]}}</ref> Other fish present include [[catfish]] and [[Centrarchidae|sunfish]].

Lake Austin is one of the Texas Highland Lakes infested with [[hydrilla]], a non-native aquatic plant species.  The Lower Colorado River Authority has intentionally lowered the water levels in the lake in the months of January and February so that freezing air temperatures might destroy substantial portions of the [[hydrilla]] in the lake each winter. As of March 2014, hydrilla has been completely eliminated from the lake through the stocking of Asian [[grass carp]] by the City of Austin.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hydrilla plant gone from Lake Austin|date=27 October 2013|url=http://www.kvue.com/story/news/local/2014/05/25/2418984/|newspaper=[[KVUE (Texas)|KVUE]]|access-date=21 April 2015}}</ref> As of September 2016 the grass carp released into Lake Austin have begun to devastate the lake’s natural resources. This has led to a decline in the wildlife native to this section of the Colorado River.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kut.org/post/grass-carp-ate-all-plants-lake-austin-now-city-wants-them-gone |title=Grass Carp Ate All the Plants in Lake Austin. Now the City Wants Them Gone |website=www.kut.org |date= 9 September 2016|access-date=29 April 2019}}</ref>