Central Texas river authority, lakefront property owners reach settlement to avoid draining four
Central Texas river authority, lakefront property owners reach settlement to avoid draining four lakes for now
by Chase Karacostas, Texas Tribune
State officials and lakefront property owners north of San Antonio agreed to not drain four lakes whose 90-year-old dams are at risk of collapsing, under the condition that people must stay off the lakes.
Hundreds of property owners, represented by two attorneys, filed suits seeking to stop the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority from draining Lake Placid, Lake McQueeney, Lake Gonzales and Meadow Lake. Two other lakes, Dunlap and Wood, were already drained after floodgate failures on each of their dams in May of this year and 2016, respectively.
"The settlement in the Guadalupe Valley Lakes litigation helps the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority achieve its immediate priority of ensuring the safety of those on and around the lakes while simultaneously continuing to work collaboratively with key stakeholders to preserve their long-term sustainability," the river authority said in a statement.
A judge blocked the river authority last Wednesday from lowering the dams that hold up the four lakes. That work was originally set to start Monday morning, with Gonzales followed by Meadow, Placid and McQueeney over the next two weeks.
Read more:
https://www.texastribune.org/2019/09/16/legal-settlement-halts-draining-four-texas-lakes/