There is no timeline because there is no funding source identified to have the work done.

SanAntoneAg said:

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There is no timeline because there is no funding source identified to have the work done.

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wow - what a disaster. I know quite a few people who spend all their weekends at their homes on McQueeny.

Those houses were pretty serious investments.

Yeah, an unfortunate deal no matter how you look at it.

What our some of the solutions being tossed around? It seems the landowners are going to ultimately need to foot the big for the repairs which seems likely on Dunlap and McQuenney but as you move to Placid and on down I'm not sure how realistic that is.

they've set up a website to answer some of the questions

https://gvlakes.com/

MAROON said:

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they've set up a website to answer some of the questions

https://gvlakes.com/

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Thanks for posting - interesting information. I'm surprised they are not draining the lakes immediately with what they say about them being such a safety risk. If another dam fails in the next month and a person is injured that is a horrible fact pattern for the river authority.

If the estimated total cost is $180MM, H-4 and H-5 will never be rebuilt. That would result in a cost of over $3,000 for every man, woman, and child in Gonzales county.

Alta said:

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MAROON said:

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they've set up a website to answer some of the questions

https://gvlakes.com/

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Thanks for posting - interesting information. I'm surprised they are not draining the lakes immediately with what they say about them being such a safety risk. If another dam fails in the next month and a person is injured that is a horrible fact pattern for the river authority.

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Have to give everyone time to get their boats out.

I'm curious why the EPA haven't been involved. The dams created wetlands & their failure to maintain them destroyed habitat for all sorts of critters. Lord knows the Feds will hammer a private citizen for doing stuff like cleaning out a backed up culvert pipe.

If they don't have the funds to repair them, what happens to the structures? I'm sure they can't be just left standing there to decay over time.

I have a feeling there is going to be an injunction filed for in the courts to stop the draining and force GBRA to release all of their records and "studies" and hopefully be subject to an independent audit which people have been calling for on them for decades

You are probably right but I would be shocked if an injunction was granted to stop the draining.

Alta said:

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You are probably right but I would be shocked if an injunction was granted to stop the draining.

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I wouldn't as the only justification GBRA is presenting to drain them is public safety based on a "study" done, based on 3 gates having catastrophic failure all at once. This wouldn't happen and according to their own reports none of remaining dams are in bad enough shape that they are in danger of all gates failing at same time. In both cases of the two dams that have failed already only one gate failed on each.

I could see a judge granting the injunction and forcing GBRA to completely ban people from getting on the lake until the situation is remediated. This way insuring the values of the land that the counties rely on for taxes stay intact for now.

WhoopN06 said:

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What has the GRBA been doing with their revenue over the last 100 years?

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From that website, GRBA claims to have spent 25 million on damn repairs. Some of those repairs were as recent as of 2011. I am curious if those repairs brought about inspections which would have identified such catastrophic failures. If so, wouldn't GRBA be required to report those findings?

I wonder if there is any precedent for the legislature sunsetting a state agency to permit reassignment of that agency's duties to another. GBRA has proven to be inept and LCRA has looked better. I wouldn't mind management of the Guad and Blanco watersheds being turned over to them.

I can tell you the firm that did the repairs on McQueeny a few years ago did make it known these repairs were only a band aide fix. Friend of mine turned down an exec position with gbra after speaking to lead engineer of said firm warning him.

Interesting. I assume the residents of the lake knew this was inevitable?

Add public access so the public has an interest in it and maybe some state funds could be allocated?

So who dropped the ball on letting the word out after the dam's repair?

I wonder if this counts as a "taking" that the government has to pay for. I presume we are looking at a good decade of litigation and a trip up from the Supreme Court of Texas to the Supreme Court of the United States.

MouthBQ98 said:

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Add public access so the public has an interest in it and maybe some state funds could be allocated?

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There is public access to Dunlap at a ramp under the
35 bridge.

But yes, as you note, there is no public access to McQueeney.

There is public access to the river lakes downstream.

Common sense would be for state help, if any becomes available, to address the public lake dams first. That being said, the waterfront property money and influence is dominant at McQueeney.

Money and taxes and prop values and second homes aside...

What happens to all the beautiful cypress trees lining the banks after the water recedes? Do they have a deep enough root system to survive the draw down?

Yes they should be fine.

PFG said:

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Money and taxes and prop values and second homes aside...

What happens to all the beautiful cypress trees lining the banks after the water recedes? Do they have a deep enough root system to survive the draw down?

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Actually there is a big worry that once the water draw down happens the retaining walls are going to give way which they fear will lead to many of the cypress trees falling

Nope. They're already stressed on Dunlap and it's only been a few months. Everyone will need large drip irrigation for the trees. This is assuming the bulkheads don't dry up and give way first.

Army Corps of Engineers didn't care about undermining my cypress trees and having them fall in the river after running the river bank full months at a time. Part and parcel of living in a big city along the river

Not uncommon for native trees to brown up this time of year. It's a self defense mechanism. Cedar Elms also do this.

The USA has not chosen to invest in infrastructure replacement or building resilient infrastructure. These dams are 80 ish years old. There should have been a plan started to replace these dams about 20 years ago. Infrastructure doesnt last forever. Whoever benefitted from these need to pay for them. I gotta laugh when people above in the thread talk about it being "semi-private" and limited boat access and unless your a "member" you wont have access. Well, membership has its benefits....