The public is invited to attend the next board District meeting on September 16, 2021 at 2:30 p.m. at the Lake Breeze Ski Lodge to receive an update on the status of the repairs to the Lake McQueeney dam. Brendan Gibbons is a former senior reporter at the San Antonio Report. More by Brendan Gibbons. Scattered thunderstorms early. A native of the Alamo City, Baugh was hired as a suburban-cities reporter at his hometown newspaper in 2006. The metal just fatigued and failed. Theyre not just draining the lakes, theyre draining the economy, said Tess Coody-Anders, a Trinity University marketing vice president who lives near Lake McQueeney and whose husband owns real estate agencies in New Braunfels and Seguin. The lake drained away, and the dam wasn't repaired. One resident is trying his hand at a small vineyard. 1 . Bonds will be issued by GBRA for the project and debt service for the individual projects on each lake will be paid for by a pledge of tax revenues from taxpayers on those lakes, according to GBRA officials. In March of 2016, the spill gate at the Lake Wood dam outside Gonzales collapsed. Made a quick trip to Lake Mcqueeney with my buddy Jeff the other day. Over the years, as the six dams fell into more disrepair and electricity revenues decreased, the GBRA was busy expanding its water and wastewater services. Amid lawsuit, Sunset Advisory Commission review cites problems within GBRA. Lake Gonzales was expected to be dewatered first, followed by Meadow Lake, Lake Placid and Lake McQueeney. West explained that the spill gates were decades old and worn out. Charlie Hickman, the GBRAs executive manager of engineering, said the authority hired divers and engineers to help inspect the broken gate and those still functioning at the dam. Solansky holds out hope that it will. . This settlement agreement is a testament to the results we can achieve when we all work together toward a common goal, said GBRA general manager and CEO Kevin Patteson. After 10 years covering City Hall for the San Antonio Express-News, Baugh moved into the environment beat in February 2019. Buzz Mueller died in 2018. GBRA is expected to provide official notice to property owners on Monday, Nichols said. Minutes from downtown New Baunfels! 494849 MLS. Relax on the Guadalupe River! For many nearby residents and businesses, losing the lakes means losing an economic driver to the area. Northern Lights Dance Over National Park In Alaska, New York City Sees First Inch-Plus Snowfall Of The Season, Cold Or Flu? In August 2019, the GBRA announced that Lake Gonzales, Meadow Lake, Lake Placid and Lake McQueeney would be drained due to concerns over aging dams. Find out more. The Legislature created the river authority in 1933, expanding it two years later to 10 counties stretching from Central Texas to the Gulf Coast, to conduct an array of work: generating electricity, providing water and wastewater services, handling flood control and managing forests. You can e-mail him at dalondo.moultrie@seguingazette.com . The dam was built in 1931. Read about the Zebra Mussel and other harmful wildlife. The broad outline of the deal would be that theGBRA does not drain Lake McQueeney, Lake Placid, Meadow Lake and Lake Gonzales as planned, provided the lakes are completely closed. 2 tomato can full of flood water.. Thanks to this settlement, the GBRA is already funding $1.2 million Nothing has been accomplished. Lake McQueeney is a 400-acre lake which is a dammed section of the Guadalupe River. Figure 2-1: Bear Trap Gate Cross-Section . Build your dream lake home on this fabulous level lot! 3 Baths. A pile under a house that used to be on the shore of Lake Wood is marked with the water levels of three major floods in the past 21 years. Two other lakes held back by similar hydroelectric dams Lake Wood in 2016 and Lake Dunlap in May have already emptied because of spill gate failures. I hope they last another 30 days before they can do an inspection on them.Now, property owners and others who depend on the four remaining lakes are soon to join those surrounding Lake Dunlap. 145 Lake Bnd, Mc Queeney, TX 78123 Off market Zestimate : $989,000 Rent Zestimate : $5,124 Est. The WCIDs did post on their websites (lakeplacidwcid1.com and lakemcqueeneywcid1.com Thursday) echoing the above points, along with basic information that was passed on to the WCIDs from GBRA.. Yes, many years ago, the hydro from these plants funded a lot of projects for the GBRA. c/o Allen Boone Humphries Robinson LLP . We wanted to provide a brief update to the discussion at the FOLM Annual Meeting in June regarding the legal proceedings related to the efforts to repair the dam and save the lake. Dear Lake McQueeney Home & Land Owners, Each district website published the same information. Wood was the first domino that fell, he said, and it should be the first to be put back up. The dam failure at Lake Dunlap led to the lake emptying in a matter of days as water flowed out of a broken spillgate. The property owners always have been the workforce behind the lakes upkeep. Water is an essential element for growth, he said, and the region would need more of it. Lake McQueeney is one of the endangered lakes in the Guadalupe Blanco River Authoritys Guadalupe Valley Lakes system. In the meantime, some media reports suggest property values around our Lake may have already dropped by as much as 50 percent. Home; Fly Fishing; Ice Fishing; Lake Fishing; River Fishing; About Us; Contact Us; Can you boat on Lake McQueeney? It is estimated by experts that obtaining market rate financing will cost the taxpayers an additional $15 million (or more) in interest expense. Click here to see the Amicus Brief filed with the Court. APN . Protect Cypress Trees Repair Timeline. Which jobs put you most at risk for a fatal injury? What they never imagined was life with no lakes at all. After several meetings, expert advice, and a couple of years of deliberation, FOLM and elected officials have come up with the most affordable and immediate solution to restore Lake McQueeney. That didnt sit well with some lakeside property owners, and the plan was temporarily halted by a judge. Therefore, no appropriation from the states budget should be relied on. 64. Lindsey Gillum, standing in her backyard on Lake McQueeney near Seguin, is leading efforts to save the Guadalupe River lakes from being drained. Viral TikTok video shows loose part on S.A. rodeo Ferris wheel. That led to our engineers making a recommendation that you could not continue to keep these gates in service.. The Lake McQueeney Dam is one of six hydroelectric dams managed by the Guadalupe Blanco River Authority. SKY 12 provides an aerial view of Lake Gonzales, Meadow Lake, Lake Placid and Lake McQueeney. The dewatering will happen in sequence with each lake one by one at Lake Gonzales, Meadow Lake, Lake Placid, and Lake McQueeney, in that order. Which City Is the Worst for Fall Allergies This Year? 3200 Southwest Freeway, Suite 2600 . Download it here. Property owners are furious they had no say in a decision integral to their lives and livelihoods and feel blindsided by the GBRA, which gave them one months notice before the draining would have begun. Baugh has previously written about public housing, county government and transportation for the Express-News. Guadalupe Blanco River Authority personnel have said the aging dams are no longer sound or fit to continue safely doing their jobs. As far as what we thought about that dams, it never once crossed our mind to check that out, Fox said. Hickman said that hydropower revenue was used entirely to cover the cost of maintaining the dams, which were all built by private developers between 1928 and 1932. Meet Our Business Members & Supporting Foundations, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. . In August 2019, the GBRA announced that Lake Gonzales, Meadow Lake, Lake Placid and Lake McQueeney would be drained due to concerns over aging dams. Copyright Lake McQueeney Organization. The area around Wood is sparsely populated without the same wealth that lines the shores from Dunlap to Placid, where theres an estimated $1 billion in property value. His aunts and uncles bought property there soon after the dam was erected, and he began visiting in 1935, when he was 5 years old. The dam on the Guadalupe River near Gonzales shows the damage caused by the failure of a spill gate in 2016. FOLM opposes the Bruingtons legally unsupported election contest and the drain on valuable resources it has necessitated. Followers 1427 Catches 61 Spots 40 Calaveras Lake Channel catfish are the most sought-after species followed by hybrid striped bass, red drum and largemouth bass. Houses that hugged the shoreline of Lake Wood were left stranded, like this water slide, after the lake drained in 2016. Management of the dam and lake was assumed by the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority on May 1, 1963. Construction is anticipated to commence in Q2 of 2023 and continue for at least 2 years+. By working together and passing the three critical ballot measures in this falls election related to our Water Control and Improvement District (WCID), we can ensure our beloved lake for decades to come. So we came back and said, Lets find one that didnt flood, so we bought one a little higher up. And so we have this gate to repair, he said. On ExpressNews.com: Recreation banned on Guadalupe River lakes. Thehearing will reconvene at 1 p.m. to see if an agreement can be reached. Both bathrooms have dual vanity mirrors and large . A search for grants from other sources to fix the dams yielded nothing, they say. Its prominent feature is Treasure Island, a residential area that has been . But you can bet well raise all sorts of hell if that happens. Four Lakes On Guadalupe River To Be Drained To Avoid Dam Failure by Brendan Gibbons August 17, 2019 Recreation on Lake McQueeney will likely be non-existent as the Guadalupe River-fed lake will be 'dewatered' due to deteriorating dam spillgates. Lake McQueeney is a reservoir on the Guadalupe River located 5 miles west of Seguin in Guadalupe County, Texas, United States. It became a popular area for recreation and for summer homes. Such an injunction would stay in place pending a trial. It was formed in 1928 by the construction of a dam to provide hydroelectric power to the area. GBRA officials say the shift, which allowed for expanded water sales, wouldnt have saved the dams anyway because the systems hydroelectricity generation is a losing proposition, undercut by a combination of drought, the deregulation of the Texas energy market and competition from inexpensive natural gas. Tornado activity: McQueeney-area historical tornado activity is slightly below Texas state average.It is 10% greater than the overall U.S. average.. On 9/20/1967, a category F3 (max. They bought it 18 months ago to live in full-time while commuting to Austin. This site is primarily designed for our members to access information and news about FOLM and the Lake, contact board members, and find useful links to other sites that may be helpful. 148 likes. Read how to be prepared for a flood and stay safe on the lake, Read about tips on how to safely boat on Lake McQueeney, Friends of Lake McQueeneyPO Box 781McQueeney, TX 78123, Copyright Lake McQueeney Organization. GUADALUPE VALLEY LAKES, Texas A settlement has been reached in one of the court cases regarding Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority and the property owners along the Guadalupe Valley lakes. But the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority's plan to dewater lakes McQueeney, Placid, Meadow and Gonzales has him worried about the ecological and economic impacts, he told the Seguin ISD school board Tuesday. When the lake bed got too shallow because of silt, property owners got together to pay for dredging. The settlement stipulates financing and operation contracts between GBRA and the newly created Water Control Improvement Districts on each lake. Print; Facebook; Twitter; PREVIOUS NEXT-of -images Like this boat? Decades ago, there was an oilman who had an underwater chainsaw attached to a barge that removed stumps. The agreement is a win for the lakeside residents, who had sought to stop the draining after the GBRA announced last month that failures of dam spillgates at Lake Wood in 2016 and at Lake Dunlap in May necessitated draining, or "dewatering," Lake Gonzales, Meadow Lake, Lake Placid, and Lake McQueeney. All these issues are being studied and FOLM will provide information here as it becomes available. About a year ago, GBRA announced that Lake Placid, Meadow Lake, Lake McQueeney and Lake Gonzalez would be drained in order that those repairs could be made. Early on, the GBRA had no funding, revenue or property. Video from a security camera showed an 85-foot-long, 12-foot-tall spillway gate bursting from the dam on the lake near New Braunfels, Texas. What is the status of Lake McQueeney? Lake Gonzales. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District (USACE) Regulatory Division is issuing this Public Notice to announce proposed adverse effects to historic properties for USACE project numbers SWF-2021-00376, Lake McQueeney Spillgate Replacement and Dam Armoring; and SWF-2021-00377, Lake Placid Spillgate and Dam Armoring. 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