SEGUIN, Texas – The hydroelectric dam at Lake Gonzales in Gonzales County experienced a spillgate failure during normal operation on August 3, 2021.
During and after rainfall events, spillgates on the dams are lowered to accommodate the passage of flood waters downstream. The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority has continued to encounter challenges with unreliable operation of the more than 90-year old spillgates along the Guadalupe Valley Lakes, due to the age of the infrastructure. The failed spillgate at Lake Gonzales was non-responsive to operational efforts and was unable to be brought back to its normal height of 12-feet after passing water flows downstream, despite efforts to restore operation by the GBRA hydroelectric operations and engineering teams. An evaluation is ongoing to determine if any repairs are possible to return the non-responsive gate to operations. GBRA environmental field staff is also on site, working in coordination with Texas Parks & Wildlife to relocate aquatic species back into the river channel.
“We are grateful that the spillgate failure at Lake Gonzales did not result in any injuries,” said GBRA General Manager and CEO Kevin Patteson. “This is a challenging situation for everyone involved. We have worked to keep the more than 90-year old spillgates in operation for as long as we could safely do so, but we cannot prevent them from failing. GBRA remains in support of the Lake Gonzales community as we continue to work with local and state officials in an exhaustive search for potential funding options.”
Lake Gonzales, along with Meadow Lake and Lake Wood, do not have the tax base and development to support the creation of a Water Control and Improvement District (WCID) – which has served as a solution to funding the necessary replacement of the aging infrastructure for three other Guadalupe Valley Lakes. Further, the Guadalupe Valley Lakes do not serve a purpose in flood control, because they have no room for temporary storage of flood waters, so they do not qualify for any existing state or federal flood relief programs.
Built in the 1930’s, the spillgates on the dams that form the Guadalupe Valley Lakes have surpassed their useful life, as evidenced by spillgate failures at Lake Wood in 2016 and Lake Dunlap in 2019. With the hydroelectric dams having operated at an unsustainable deficit for more than a decade, GBRA cannot support the necessary replacement of the spillgates in the absence of state and federal funding assistance and stakeholder partnerships. GBRA has supported efforts made by the lake associations at Lake Dunlap, Lake McQueeney and Lake Placid to create WCIDs to fund the necessary replacement of the spillgates, as well as the annual maintenance and operation.
More information, including the latest updates on the Guadalupe Valley Lakes, is available at GVLakes.com.
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About the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority
The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) provides reliable high-quality water and wastewater treatment services, conserves and protects the Guadalupe River Basin, generates hydroelectric power, manages recreational areas, offers laboratory services, and creates educational programming while planning for and supporting community growth and development. Established as a water conservation and reclamation district by the Texas Legislature in 1933, GBRA has evolved to serve as a leader and steward of the water resources across a 10-country statutory district. GBRA’s district begins near the headwaters of the Guadalupe and Blanco rivers and ends at San Antonio Bay, including Kendall, Comal, Hays, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Gonzales, DeWitt, Victoria, Calhoun and Refugio counties.