These Dams Needed Replacing 15 Years Ago. Now Texas will Drain Four Lakes Instead.

Photo: The dam at Lake McQueeny, near Seguin, is one of four remaining in the Guadalupe River Valley in Central Texas that are at risk of failure. MIGUEL GUTIERREZ JR. / THE TEXAS TRIBUNE

Texas officials will start draining four lakes next week in Guadalupe County in Central Texas without a plan in place for when the lakes, and the 90-year-old dams that support them, will be rebuilt. Area homeowners, who got barely a month’s notice, said they felt blindsided by the plan, and they say it will slash their property values, kill their beloved century-old cypress trees and render the lakes — which have hosted water skiing tournaments for decades — unusable.

But Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority officials say they don’t have a choice. The dams, two of which have already had catastrophic failures, are creating a safety hazard that could flood entire neighborhoods if they get any worse, river authority spokeswoman Patty Gonzales said. River authorities were created by the Texas Legislature to manage and conserve water resources around the state.

“We cannot guarantee the safety of the public with these aging spill gates” and have to lower them, Gonzales said. The dams are set to be lowered starting Monday. This is a familiar story surrounding […]

Full article: These Dams Needed Replacing 15 Years Ago. Now Texas will Drain Four Lakes Instead.