Hello Del Mar owners,

As the weather begins to warm up, so does our activity! In all our board meetings we spend a lot of time talking about how to keep the community clean and running smoothly. Here are some of the things we are working on for 2026:

1. Keep our community and common areas clean and safe. Thank you to all who participated in the last few Del Mar cleanup events. With your help, we filled several dumpsters and removed brush piles from around the park. Please remember that uncovered boats and jet skis, unregistered vehicles, and visible trash are violations of our deed restrictions.

2. Educate and inform owners and builders of our construction deed restrictions. We’ll be doing more this year in terms of education and enforcement of our building standards. This allows us to maintain a wonderful, safe and clean neighborhood where people want to live. 

3. Replace boat-ramp keys and continue improving our boat-ramp area. We exchanged 2024 keys for 2025 keys at the annual meeting in May. If you still need a key, please contact Steve Warneke or Steve Eshelman.  Remember that the ramp and park are for Del Mar property owners only.

Tracy Burkhart - President & Treasurer

As of early 2026, there is still no vertical construction (no building framework) rising from the hotel site, the project is still inching forward. The Gun Barrel City Economic Development Corporation now projects a spring 2027 opening for the Pier 334 complex, whereas initial plans had aimed for a late 2025 debut.

Since early summer 2025, the Pier 334 Hilton Tapestry Hotel project in Gun Barrel City has progressed with foundational site work. By late July, crews had completed major grading and soil stabilization efforts – roughly seven feet of loose sand was excavated across the 23,000 sq ft hotel pad and replaced with select fill to strengthen the ground. With the site stabilized, the focus shifted to installing infrastructure: workers began laying a storm drainage system and sewer lines, and the power utility removed outdated overhead lines in preparation for burying new electrical utilities to the site. 

These behind-the-scenes tasks have been crucial due to the waterfront location’s sandy soil, but they have also contributed to the slow pace of visible construction so far.

On a positive note, the development team reports that all Hilton design and permitting approvals are in place, and they even built two model guest rooms off-site over the summer to finalize interior finishes to Hilton’s standards. With site prep nearly wrapped up and utilities going in, the foundation and structural construction are anticipated to begin soon. Local officials remain cautiously optimistic that 2026 will finally see the hotel itself take shape after the lengthy groundwork phase.

Cedar Creek Reservoir has fallen to below-normal water levels due to a four-month stretch with virtually no rain, leaving a lot of Del Mar cove dry. The lake’s volume has steadily declined from 100% capacity last summer to only about 82% full as of mid-January. In practical terms, the reservoir’s surface elevation (currently 318.5 feet) is roughly 3.5 feet below its “full” conservation-pool level (of 322.0 feet). For context, one year ago the reservoir was about 87% full in early January, so the current level is notably lower than typical for this time of year. 

December 2025 was one of the driest on record in North Texas, and the parched trend continued through the winter. The complete lack of rainfall since late fall is linked to broader climate patterns. Texas experienced an exceptionally warm, dry winter under the influence of La Niña. La Niña causes the jet stream to shift farther north, so rain-bearing weather systems that usually sweep across Texas never arrived. The result has been virtually no precipitation over Cedar Creek’s 1,000-square-mile watershed for months, allowing evaporation and water usage to outpace inflows. 

Figure: Projected Cedar Creek Reservoir water level scenarios for 2026 under different rainfall conditions. The yellow band shows the lake’s projected elevation declining further through summer if the drought persists (below-normal rain). Green indicates a stable trend with near-normal rain, and blue shows a potential recovery toward full capacity with above-normal precipitation.

Looking ahead, water managers and forecasters caution that relief may not come immediately. The Tarrant Regional Water District reports no strong signals of wet weather in early 2026, meaning lake levels will likely continue trending downward in the near term. Indeed, La Niña’s dry influence could linger into the spring even as that pattern weakens. 

On the optimistic side, climate models predict a shift to ENSO-neutral conditions by late spring and even suggest a more than 60% chance of El Niño developing by fall 2026. An El Niño event – essentially the opposite of La Niña – tends to bring a southerly jet stream and increased rainfall to Texas. For now, however, the reservoir is bracing for a drier-than-normal spring and summer. Water level projections (see figure above) show that under continued drought (worst-case scenario), Cedar Creek could dip several more feet below normal by mid-year, potentially approaching historically low levels. Conversely, any above-average rain later this year would greatly aid in refilling the reservoir. Officials remain hopeful that the anticipated late-year shift in climate will finally break the dry streak, allowing Cedar Creek’s water levels to rebound as 2026 progresses.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a wet spring!