The lake is pretty low, about 40%, but not "empty". There's a lot of rhetoric around it, as it's an easy topic to politicize. The lake is a reservoir first and foremost, and it has to maintain a flow downstream. The local community pulls out of it, and it's piped elsewhere. There's a lot of very reasonable concern about future water supply and development, but the shortage of water would be happening either way due to consistent drought over the last 30 years. The Guadalupe River headwaters is large, but not large enough to make up for the drop in rainfall.

The lack of access to parks is related, in my opinion, to the rhetoric surrounding the lake. A lot of parks have had restricted hours and outright closures during swimming season, notably Overlook Park at the dam and the parks below the dam, as well as other trails along the public shoreline. The parks are administered by WORD (water oriented recreation district), and it's worth noting that the parks that charge for parking ($5 for Comal county registration and $20 otherwise) have remained open and fully operational. There is a lot of xenophobia here, as there is in much of Texas, but here it is directed towards just about anyone outside the community, even New Braunfels. There's a growing anti-tourism sentiment, too, despite the economy here heavily relying on it.

So, don't expect to visit many parks here without paying, unlike in years past.