From the cover
Resurrecting Lake Dunlap
How we got here
Two-minute impact
Securing resources and backing from stake- holders for the Lake Dunlap dam project took two years from the dam failing in 2019 to construction breaking ground.
Construction of the dam was completed in 2023 and lake levels returned to normal by the end of the year. However, the new dam has not returned the river to the state it was in under the previous construction. Because of the lower levels down river, residents below the dam are asking if it is permissible to cut o river ow so drastically. “This stretch of river is devastating. It’s horrible,” said Tim White, who owns land immediately below the dam. “I got cypress trees down there that are three feet out of water,” White said.
Lake Dunlap consists of a 9-mile, 410-acre stretch of the Guadalupe River east of I-35 in New Braunfels. It is one of six dams operated by the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority along the Guadalupe River. After the dam breached one of its spill gates, draining the lake in May 2019, residents along the lake formed a Water Control and Improvement District—along with the help of elected o cials—to tax themselves in order to come up with some of the funding to rebuild the dam.
1928 Construction of dam is completed
May2019 One of three spill gates fails and mostly drains Lake Dunlap
Feb. 2020 The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approves the creation of the Water Control and Improvement District
June 2020 Financing and
operation agreement is reached between Lake Dunlap WCID and the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority should the district receive voter approval for the WCID to form Jan. 2021 GBRA secures $40 million in bond funding for dam through the Texas Water Development Board’s state revolving fund Feb. 2023 Zachry Construction begins installing the rst of three Hydraulic Crest Gates of the dam
Nov. 2020 Voters approve creation of Lake
Dunlap WCID, tax rate and up to $40 million in bonds
Most boat docks along the lake were dried up as seen in this May 2019 le photo.
RACHAL ELLIOTT COMMUNITY IMPACT
May 2021 Construction begins to rebuild Lake Dunlap dam
Oct. 2023 Lake Dunlap is virtually back to its historic levels
By October 2023 the lake was fully re lled to pre-dam collapse levels.
SIERRA MARTIN COMMUNITY IMPACT
SOURCES: GUADALUPE BLANCO RIVER AUTHORITY, LAKE DUNLAP WCID, ZACHRY CONSTRUCTION, TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD COMMUNITY IMPACT
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