America is a beautiful country with thousands of lakes natural and humanmade. There are homes and structures that line these beauties worth billions. Decades of tax cuts put much of it in danger. This story had my blood boiling.
The Houston Chronicle story follows after this prose I felt I needed to write. In short, all the lakes on the Guadalupe river will be drained because he gates on the dams are now unreliable. Two have already failed on two dams catastrophically. I am sure this story will be replicated throughout medium-sized rivers throughout Texas and the rest of the country.
Interestingly, the same property owners who are now irate are likely the ones who wanted the tax cuts. You see they thought they were paying for those others in the cities.
The reality is all the projects in remote areas like lakes and sparsely used roads are expensive. We all paid to build them. But after they were built those who lived on what we all created were no longer interested in contributing.
As they got their tax cuts how many realized that it will eventually hit things like maintaining what we all built for them, the beauty and calm they could live in 24/7 that we all paid for in the past? It is a shame that they are likely to lose much more than had they simply paid their fair share.
From the time I moved to America, I frequented the Guadalupe river. The calm and natural beauty of the river its lake kept me going as a college student and as an adult. It will be a huge loss for property owners and all the businesses dependent on that river.
This is a story that won’t last long on TV. But it is one we must continue to show as metastasizing cancer of tax cuts. It hurts the quality of life most in some manner or another.
There is a sect in this country that is not very empathetic. They only change when they see something directly affect them or those close to them — like those who support same-sex marriage only to secure the happiness of their loved one, or support drug research when a family member gets an illness. Well, this should be a wake-up call for all those dependent on us all to fix their infrastructure.
Are you really ready to live with ever-increasing tax cuts? Remember, the rich who are the only real beneficiaries of tax cuts can leave town and build their own well-taken-care-of lakes with the tax cuts you gave them. The pennies you got won’t do. PLEASE WAKE UP TO THE CON!
End of an era: Imminent danger along the Guadalupe will force the drainage of four lakes – Houston Chronicle
The Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority will drain its four remaining lakes on the Guadalupe next month, citing the imminent public danger posed by the decrepit condition of spillgates in its 90-year-old dams.
The lakes will be dewatered, one by one, beginning Sept. 16. Officials expect each lake to take about three days to empty. The process will start with Gonzales on the east, then move west to Meadow, Placid and finally McQueeney, the most populated one.
The water level will drop by 12 feet on each lake, leaving only the natural channel of the Guadalupe River. Two other lakes in the chain, Dunlap and Wood, already drained after spillgates there failed.
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The GBRA notified the associations of lakefront residents Thursday about the decision and is sending about 2,000 certified letters to all property owners.
The dewatering of the lakes will mark the end of an era. Originally impounded in the late 1920s and early ’30s, the lakes and dams were used to produce electricity. In the ensuing years, the lakes became centers of recreation as power generation faded.
For some property owners, the lakes are their homes. For others in San Antonio and Houston, they’re weekend vacation spots for boating, fishing and skiing. Businesses such as bait stands, gas stations and restaurants emerged. Property owners say all that could wither once there’s no water left in the lakes.
Whether all six dams could be fixed and the lakes restored remains uncertain. It could take at least several years and cost $180 million.
Until there is a solution, GBRA officials said they can no longer gamble with the lives of boaters, swimmers and campers if another spillgate fails, which could happen at any time.
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